[dvwannabe]

I've already ordered my new iBook 14" 933.

I ordered an airport extreme card to go along with it. But after doing a little research today, I found out that it's probably not worth it.

I was planning on using the card to access the internet while I am out and about. However to my chagrin, I realized that wi-fi is a very expensive proposition.

I was under the impression that this whole wi-fi thing was relatively free. Go into Starbucks, order a coffee and surf the net. But it seems you need to buy a T-Mobile hotspot subscription to access the web at Starbucks ($20 a month) and suppose I'm somewhere besides Starbucks or a T-mobile hotspot, it can cost even more for yet another subscription.

So I'll need seperate subscriptions to access the net in seperate locations. I wasn't planning on accessing wi-fi all that often, I thought it would be a nice option in case I needed it.

I think I might cancel my Airport extreme card.

What do you think?

[DaBeav]

Accoding to T-Mobile's Plan page, you can buy an unlimited subscription, or you can pay $6/hour ($0.10/min after that) and pay as you go. Or pay $10 for an all-day use pass.

You can also get the AirPort Extreme Base Station (or pretty much any 802.11b/g access point) and set up wireless at home...

[Scooterboy]

Broadband Internet access isn't free you know. Someone has to pay. You can find free hotspots. These are often at coffee shops, however the quality of Internet access is not a given, as free joints usually use a cheap Internet connection with lots of dropouts, slow uploads, and no uptime guarantee.

Shop around and buy one sub that will fit your needs. T-Mobile is good if you will be often travelling and will need access on the go. A local provider is good if you only need access in your home town, and especially if you don't want to hang out at corporate establishments (Starbucks, Kinkos, Borders, etc.) to use your Internet access.

My company provides unlimited broadband wireless access for $12 per month, but only in a few non-corporate cafes in one metro area, although we are looking at linking up with other Wireless ISP's to provide extended service in other cities and an alternative to the big, corporate players.

You won't regret having installed your Airport Extreme card. Besides signing up for a WiFi account, you can also network wirelessly with other computers that have WiFi cards. You can exchange files, IM, and play games and the faster Airport Extreme spec will really come into its own doing these tasks. If you game, try hosting a wireless lan party with other laptop gamers.

[mark2]

dvwannabe, if you decide to set up a wireless network at home you meigh be interested in this: I bought a netgear MR814 wireless router today from Amazon for $53.94. There is a $20.00 rebate available so the final cost is only $33.94, w/free shipping.

<I ordered an airport extreme card to go along with it. But after doing a little research today, I found out that it's probably not worth it.>

[d4nth3m4n]

i have wireless. and i cant live without it. you would be surprised how often you find a hotspot in a urban area. i have never paid to get online. im at college now, and if i need to take my comp to the library, i can get on there too. for the added $99 i would not think twice about getting airport. you will love it more than you ever would have thought.

Dan.

[esc]

We have a wireless network at home and wouldn't be without it at this point. The freedom of getting net anywhere in the home is worth a lot.

While it is true that bandwidth isn't free, some people subsidize it to customers or citizens for other reasons. Here is a partial (very partial) list

http://www.wififreespot.com/

Some businesses are finding it pays to offer this

http://www.boosman.com/blog/archives/000763.html

If you go into a Schlotzsky's you will see several people using net and eating sandwiches. If you go into a Starbucks you rarely see anyone paying for net. Schlotzsky's sees to feel this is cost effective - it may be a great form of advertising.

[SupahCoolX]

Don't forget the benefits of Airport at home. If you have DSL/Cable modem, nothing beats surfing wirelessly from the patio, bed, couch, backyard, etc.

[icruise]

If you're thinking of just using it at cafes and the like, then Airport probably isn't worth it. But I couldn't live without it at home. It's very liberating.

[Luca Rescigno]

When I had an iBook (I sold it about a month ago), I got a wireless card for it. I was glad I did, too, because my university has hot spots all over campus that are freely accessible by any student as long as they first enter their student ID and password at an authentication page. If the school didn't have these hot spots, I would not have bought wireless, because wired access in my dorm room is fine. It's a small room, and I'd have to register my access point with the school and authenticate in order to use it. I'd only get wireless if I was:

1. On a college campus where you can use wireless access for free in most of the buildings.
2. Living in a regular home or multi-room apartment, especially if I wanted more than one computer on the network.
3. Planning on doing lots of wardriving (driving around with the laptop in the passenger seat, looking for open wireless networks that people have set up in their homes). A friend of mine bought a cheap Pentium II notebook to do some wardriving because he can't afford even an old iBook. Of course, he can't afford a car either so he actually just does warwalking.

I don't think I'd get a wireless card if I couldn't use it in my place of residence or in many other places for free. If you have to pay so much money just to use wireless access in a coffee shop, I don't think it's worth it.

[cacarr1]

Panera Bread is in the process of WiFi-ing all of their stores. It will be available to the customers for free too!

check your local store to find out if it is available...