On Sun, 26 Jun 2005 20:54:24 GMT, "Leon Horsnell" <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:
>I am going overseas from australia and wondered if I could connect to my
>broadband internet provider whilst overseas. or does one need a special
>provider for wifi. i have purchased an old jornada 680 and wondered if i put
>a wifi card in it would i be able to browse the net in an english or swiss
>cafe etc
>Hope that is clearer but i was also looking for a general understanding
Well, I'm not sure what you mean by "connect". Your existing
broadband ISP probably does NOT offer connectivity service in a
different country. However, you can pickup your email from your
existing broadband ISP from anywhere on the internet. Once you're
connected to the internet, the rest is fairly easy.
What Wi-Fi wireless does is connect you to the internet EXACTLY as if
your were plugged in via an ethernet cable. It's literally a wireless
extension cord replacement for ethernet. If you can connect by
plugging in, you can do the same via Wi-Fi. Many hotel have both
ethernet jacks and wireless.
Like ethernet, you don't just walk around plugging into other peoples
ethernet connections at random. Wi-Fi requires permission of the hot
spot owner. Some require payments, other are free. Some cities
provide service for free. Some individuals publicly share their
connection. Usually there are signs or online directories that will
give you a clue of what to expect. I'm not familiar with Australia
and can't offer specifics.
Once you've connected to the internet via Wi-Fi, you can pickup your
email from your existing broadband provider. Depending upon
configuration (POP3 before SMTP), you may also be able to send email
via your existing broadband provider without changing any of your
email program settings.
However, there's a catch. Public Wi-Fi is unencrypted and therefore
can be intercepted, sniffed, and abused. Your email logins and
password are going over the air in plain text and can be captured.
This is a major security issue and should be carefully considered.
There are solutions, the easiest of which is to use SSL secured
(
https://) type of WebMail to your existing broadband ISP. There are
also VPN solutions. Ask your existing broadband ISP.
The same security issues apply to using credit card numbers via
wireless, or sending or receiving any form of communications that you
don't to keep private.
You should also be sure that what you're connecting to via Wi-Fi is
not a fake access point. See:
|
http://www.wi-fi.org/membersonly/get..._For_Web_2.pdf
If you can do most of your surfing or email using SSL (
https://),
you're fairly safe from sniffing. Also, be sure to setup your
wireless laptop client so that it does *NOT* automatically connect to
any random access point, but that it requires you to manually select
the desired connection.
--
Jeff Liebermann
(E-Mail Removed)
150 Felker St #D
http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 AE6KS 831-336-2558
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