Wireless Laptop Guide - Protection and Uses

A wireless laptop makes web surfing and Internet use even more convenient than ever. With the advent of wireless technology, more and more people have the power to access the Internet for their personal use or for business purposes. Wireless Internet access is available in nearly every public locations, called "hot spots," making connectivity a standard. Laptops have since been made to access these hot spots, giving birth to a whole new generation of PC users.

As with all Internet access, you will need to ensure you are protected while you are online. In order to make sure you are not compromising your Internet presence while using your wireless laptop, make sure you know how to use certain applications. When connecting to the Internet, make sure that your laptop's firewall is turned on. This acts like a barrier, a line of protection from the rest of the public who are online. Turning off your firewall puts you at risk for online theft: Other users may hack into your system and steal important documents, passwords and other pertinent information from your laptop.

Know how to use Wi-Fi hot spots responsibly. If you do not need it at a certain time, then disable your wireless connection. Staying connected while you are doing work such as data entry, writing, or any non-Internet-related work may give online criminals a window to your network, thus breaking in to your computer. Also, avoid entering personal identification information on wireless networks as these can be "stolen" by certain data-capturing software used by online criminals. The same should be done for shared files, which can be viewed by other wireless laptops who are connected to the same Wi-Fi hot spot.

As a safeguard to laptop theft, it is strongly recommended that use use a service such as LoJack for Laptops. They recover three out of every four laptops that are stolen.

Business areas with Wi-Fi Internet access use wireless laptops for various tasks. Most commonly, businesses use Internet connectivity to communicate via chat or web conferencing, especially when colleagues are separated through distance while on the daily commute. Many companies provide their employees with wireless laptops so that they can take their work with them on the go. This helps reduce the time and effort needed to do certain tasks such as making reports, printing out email attachments or updating files. Mobile laptop users also have the advantage of being able to work in any area there is a hotspot, which means they can work almost anywhere, even out of the office.

A Wireless laptop is a big help to homes and family members as well. A wireless Internet connection at home is made possible with a wireless router, which is easy to set up and creates a network in the home for Internet access. Usually, such home connections can only be accessed by the family members, with the connection being protected by a password only known to those in the family network. Home network access lets family members work in any part of the house where there is a good enough signal, minimizing the need to have just one room with a computer. This is ideal for dads who need to finish some take-home office work, moms who are looking for recipes and household tips on the Internet, students who need to finish school assignments, or kids who want to enjoy some games online.