My wife and I have a brand new Sony Vaio laptop (we got from newegg.com) and are going on a trip. It is currently set up on the internet via our wireless router. If we take it with us, can we use it as we drive. Obviously not with our internet as we will be out of range. Are there any other options?
You can use it wherever there might be someplace offering free internet (cafes, hotels, etc) or someone's personal wireless router is just plain unsecured. A few cities have free wireless in their business or tourist districts, but not many. You won't really be able to use the internet while driving (on the highway) as what few internet sources you might come across you will be in and out of their range so quickly that they're irrelevant. When staying still, in a densely populated area, there is a good chance however of getting a signal you can connect to.
While expensive they do make cellular modems that work like a cell phone and wherever you go you're connected. But they are slowish, and pricey. Mostly people only use those when their job is paying the bills.
Your best bet is going to be to contact your cell phone provider and ask if they offer mobile broadband, MoBro. If they do, a lot of the time you can get a free MoBro card for signing up, thus defeating the idea that they are pricey. Where your fees are going to come in is that it is like you are adding an additional phone line to your cell phone bill. Usually it is anywhere from $50 to $70 a month and it is not as fast as a connection you will get in your home. It is usually around 1mbps where you are more than likely getting 9mbps in your home.
many cites have wireless hotspots as do hotels, backpakers etc but the range of each are limited. if you need to be conected everywhere you will need to go with mobile plans which are very expencive
Yeah, you can try the service offered by the cell phone companies. You'll need an EVDO card for the laptop and a service agreement... it isn't really cheap.
If you just need it occasionally, it is very easy (in my experience) to stop in any town and find wireless internet available. Coffee shops, hotels, bookstores, and all kinds of places have a wireless network running and most are not secured at all. I had no problem stopping and finding maps and local stores when I drove from Virginia to Georgia earlier this year, in every town that I stopped it was easy to get a connection.
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