Pardon the ignorance of my question, I am computer DUMB
Is there a such thing as wireless internet service? In other words can I take my laptop and spend my day on the boat and still work online withhout having to be in the office?

yes sprint offer it. check out sprintPCS.com or go to the sprint store its $100 per month unlimited access. Its faster than dial up and supposedly works wherever sprint phones work.

Yes, you can get wireless internet service through your cell phone or you can get a wireless card the will attach directly to your laptop. Coverage area's vary, here's the coverage map:

http://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/

As already mentioned, you can do it with your cell phone. A friend of mine uses it and I bought the software for mine. I haven't used it yet as he has told me it is very slow.

Florida Gator, can you do it w/ any cell phone? I have Nextel and their service in my area is really bad. Is there any other way than a cell phone?

What is this wireless card that bcoffield is talking about? Does it do the same thing as a cell phone?

The t-mobile will allow for up to a 56K connection where available. Using a cell phone is very slow. There are areas that offer wireless broadband at 256K or so. I am not certain what areas ever went live. One of the early companies was ricochet.

One of the problems with using cell phone service, whether for voice or data, on the boat is coverage. Cell phone towers have a somewhat limited range - that's why there are so many of them. I believe I read somewhere that the effective range is something like 6-10 miles.

If you are the cell phone company, it makes a heck of a lot more sense to put a tower up 5-10 miles inland, rather than close to the coast - you reach many more users that way. Putting a tower on the shore may be great for those relatively few cell phone customers out on their boat, but that is probably not a factor in their placement decisions.

I know here in Michigan, we had terrible coverage on Lake St Clair with both Sprint and Nextel; supposedly, my new carrier Verison is better.

THRILLSEEKER...here's a link for the Sierra Wireless AirCard 750 fits into a standard Type II PC Card slot and functions as a wireless network card....

http://www.t-mobile.com/business/pro...phoneid=166841

http://www.t-mobile.com/plans/intern...Override=False

Speed is still pretty slow, good for basic Web Surfing and Email.

Bill

Just remember that wireless is inherently insecure. Not appropriate for sensitive/confidential transmissions. Any pinhead with a Pringles can, and the know-how will have access to your transmissions, cleartext.

This little guy is the snizz..........


http://www.handspring.com


Ever try typing with the keys on your cell phone? It sucks. This has a real keyboard.