Wireless internet? (Wichita, McDonald, Barnes: how much, hotels, house)

[christina0001]

I am moving to the Wichita area next month, and I'm thinking about getting a laptop and wireless internet. What service providers offer wireless, how good is the service, and how much does it cost?

[drjones96]

I'm sure AT&T has service here for wireless internet.

[crazyma]

we have cox high speed and wireless and it is 44 a month

[drjones96]

are you talking about just having wifi in your house or having a wireless card for being able to use your laptop anywhere?

I have a laptop with wifi in my house.....I just have a standard high speed connection and a D-Link box that sends out a wifi signal about a 100 ft radius. There's no extra charge for it...just have to pay for internet with my bundled service from Cox.

If you're talking about being able to have internet on the go I know ATT, sprint and Verizon have this service available...you can hit their websites for the pre-tax rates.

[christina0001]

Thanks for all the posts so far. I didn't know there was a difference. I would definitely like wireless in the house, but I plan on going back to school next year, and it would be great to have internet on the go, anywhere. Then I could connect at school. Plus I have a lot of out of state family I plan on visiting periodically.

[drjones96]

Yeah you can use your computer kinda like you use a cell phone (in the same sense that you have internet on an iphone) with the adapters that the wireless providers give you that you plug into the side of your laptop. If you already have a wireless carrier you could maybe get a bundled service deal. I've only known a couple of people who have this setup so I'm not really familiar with reliability and quality of the service. For someone who's always on the go this may be an ideal thing.

BUT

I know that a lot of universities have their own wifi service. So if you're on campus you'll be able to recieve the wifi signal via internal wireless card (IF IT IS EQUIPPED). You can also hit hot spots around town where available if they have it.

I have previously had internet through Charter cable (cable internet) in Fort Worth but it was a lot less $ to get DSL through ATT.

With the cable internet I had a cable router that the cable from outside came into. There was a network cable coming out of the router that could either be plugged into the laptop directly for a 'wired' connection OR you could run the network cable into a WiFi box to transmit the internet over the air.

The thing I got from ATT was an Ewire (brand name) box. It combined the router above and the WiFi box into one unit. But it had a SecureID card that plugged into the side of my laptop for a secure connection.

Recently I have moved here to Wichita and have switched everything over to Cox. I nixed my landline phone in favor of phone service with cox to get a bundled service deal. I have digital cable, internet, and phone. All the service comes in over just one cable! No kidding. You run a cable into the input on the box and then out comes a phone line, cable line (don't really need it though as cable is distributed over the whole house through every connection), and a network line for internet. It's pretty slick....and also very cheap compared to having a separate provider for every service. I don't have a long distance plan with the phone but I really only call long distance with my cell phone anymore. The total service after the discount period runs out is about $135/mo.

[athfo]

Basically, wireless internet is simply getting the internet without wires from a wireless router. It's the same internet you get when plugging a cable into your computer, except there is no cable. You don't have to "pay extra" for wireless internet as a service, it's just another way of getting the internet from the modem/router to your computer.

However, like drjones96 said, you can also get wireless internet service from a cell phone company for the sole purpose of being able to use said service away from home or without having to pay for wifi service at a business. You simply plug the card they provide into your computer. Again, this is different than getting wifi with a modem and wireless router.

Also, I do know personally that Wichita State provides free wireless service to students. Stores like Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, McDonald's, etc. also provide wireless service, but at a cost. Where do you plan on going to school, christina0001?

[christina0001]

Wow, thanks for all this information. It sounds like wifi would be the best choice for me. I will be moving in with my aunt and uncle, and I think they already use Cox, so that would be really convenient. So if I signed up with Cox, I would not only get access at home, but also any place that offers WiFi (possibly for a fee)? Am I understanding this right?

I am applying to Wichita State and also KU (I know KU is a long drive but if you commute that far, they'll put all your classes in 1 day per week). I may apply to Newman but I doubt it. Realistically, I'll probably end up going to WSU. KU has a better program for what I am going for (masters in social work) but I may not even be accepted (they are very competitive from what I hear), and even going once a week, a 2.5 drive is not very appealing. It would be super convenient if I could take my laptop to school at WSU and get internet service there, too.

[drjones96]

Originally Posted by christina0001

Wow, thanks for all this information. It sounds like wifi would be the best choice for me. I will be moving in with my aunt and uncle, and I think they already use Cox, so that would be really convenient. So if I signed up with Cox, I would not only get access at home, but also any place that offers WiFi (possibly for a fee)? Am I understanding this right?

If you go to an area that has WiFi publicly available you don't have to have any service provider to access the internet. Your built-in WiFi card will pick up the signal and you will be able to access the internet. So it's free. Although some places like hotels will make you pay a small fee for every day you use their connection (~$5 or something).

Originally Posted by christina0001

I am applying to Wichita State and also KU (I know KU is a long drive but if you commute that far, they'll put all your classes in 1 day per week). I may apply to Newman but I doubt it. Realistically, I'll probably end up going to WSU. KU has a better program for what I am going for (masters in social work) but I may not even be accepted (they are very competitive from what I hear), and even going once a week, a 2.5 drive is not very appealing. It would be super convenient if I could take my laptop to school at WSU and get internet service there, too.

Check with WSU to see if they have WiFi on campus. Like I said...a lot of universities have WiFi as long as you are within range.

If you are enrolled and live on campus you will get free internet access in your room. This was probably the coolest part of living in a dorm....everything else about it sucked but the internet access was great. Plus if they have a network set up so you can pass files back and forth with the other dormies it's very convenient. (This is probably the number 1 cause of copywrite violations in the music industry because you can grab hundreds of songs off of someone elses shared folder and copy them onto yours. I probably had over 2000 mp3's on my computer and never paid for a single one. )

[christina0001]

In the good old days of Napster I had 300-400 "free" songs downloaded. I won't be in a dorm though.