Working on the move
Nowadays, there's no need to lose contact with your office or the Internet while you're out and about. By making the most of wireless broadband hotspots and the latest 3G mobile phone technology, you'll never be out of touch.
Wireless broadband hotspots are increasingly growing in popularity in the UK. Hotspots allow you to access broadband whilst you’re on the move, so you can access those crucial emails without waiting to get home or back to the office!
Hotspots can be found in all manner of places nowadays - hotels, cafes, pubs, service stations and restaurants to name but a few. Places that have a hotspot will usually advertise the fact, so you just need to keep an eye out.
Click here for a map of hotspot locations in Cornwall, UK.
You can visit UK wireless hotspot providers websites such as www.btopenzone.com and www.cloud.com for more detailed information.
To use a hotspot, you need a laptop or PDA with wireless networking built in or available via a plug-in card. If you don't have any wireless hardware, some hotspot hosts may even be able to rent you a suitable card. You will also need to have login details for connecting to a wireless hotspot. These can either be bought over the counter at the hotspot host site or you might prefer to set up an account with a hotspot provider (BT Openzone, Cloud etc) if you are a regular hotspot user. Simply visit the provider’s website to set up the account. You then need to power up your laptop or PDA and tell it to join the wireless network.
Connecting to your internet browser you will be automatically directed to the login web page for the hotspot provider (BT Openzone, Cloud, etc). Until you have logged in you won’t be able to go any further. Simply type in your username and password and you'll be connected to the network properly and allowed to browse the internet just as if you were at the office using your own internet connection.
Getting connected to a wireless network will depend on which software you use, but the principle is pretty much the same across the board - every wireless network will have a name that you will need in order to connect to it. If you are using Windows XP, it will tell you which wireless networks are available. Simply click on the message and a list of available networks will pop up. Choose the network that matches the name of hotspot provider e.g. BT Openzone, and click on the “Connect” button.
If you are not using Windows XP you should refer to the documentation for your wireless hardware or ask the hotspot host for assistance.
Email on the move
Now a small business can get the benefits of email on the move without the expense of a BlackBerry server.
For more information click here.
