(+) How to Connect to the Internet From (Almost) Anywhere

NOTE: This article does not contain any genealogy-related information. However, if you are interested in today’s technology, or if you travel with a laptop computer, you may be interested in the information presented here.

I will admit to being a “gadget freak.” I am interested in most any device that either makes life easier or else allows a person to do things that were not possible without the device. I have obtained a gadget that I find fascinating. It allows me to function in areas where I could not do so previously and I save money besides.

In fact, I am using the new gadget now as I write this article, using a laptop computer on a Greyhound bus traveling from Boston to New York City. I do not have any wires connected to my laptop. There is no power connection and no network connection. I am using a wireless network connection but not the so-called “Wi-Fi” wireless. The wireless connection I am using can communicate with cell phone towers many miles away.

I am writing this article with a standard word processor while simultaneously downloading a large file from an Internet web site in another window. A third window is open with my e-mail program checking for new messages every five minutes. A fourth window is also open, running a program that monitors the wireless Internet connection and is reporting data transfer statistics once every second.

While I am seated on a bus, I could just as easily be seated in a public park, in an airport lounge, riding the commuter train, or even in my own back yard. OK, I’ll try this on the highway only if someone else is driving. The point is that I am connected to the Internet without any wires and I can move around for miles without losing the connection. Did I mention that the connection operates at roughly the same speed as a DSL or cable modem connection?

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