Mobile Internet- Connecting to the Internet Using Your Mobile Phone

Mobile Internet- Connecting to the Internet From a Remote Location

The Internet has become essential for staying in touch when on the move. There are several mechanisms available to access the Internet when you are not at your normal business/home location.

They are:

Internet cafe
Public Wi-fI Access point
Mobile Phone Network
Other Office Network
Dial up Connection

Here we will take a look at the various methods and their suitability.

Internet Cafe,Airports etc

The Internet cafe has been around many years. Some provide public computers that you can use and others allow you to use your own laptop to access their connection via WI-FI (most common) or by plugging into their network using an Ethernet cable.

Either way there are security considerations that you need to be aware of if you are using this type of connection. See Using a Public Computer-Security Considerations.

Public Wi-FI Access point

Companies like Starbucks provide public WI-FI access as part of the experience. In addition many airports and public place provide free Wi-FI access and many home networks are left open so that you can piggy back on them. See Free Wireless Internet.

In most cases the connection is not encrypted because to do so would require the connecting computer to send a password which would make the setup more complex ,and so most connections of this type are open and as such very insecure.

So although you may be using your own hardware you have little more security than you would have using a public computer, and so the same considerations apply (see article link above).

If you subscribe to a WI-FI package then the connection will probably be encrypted and more secure.

Mobile Phone Network

The mobile phone is set to become the most popular way of connecting to and using the Internet replacing the PC.

There are two access mechanism available when using most mobile phones.

WI-FI
3G

Many Internet capable mobile phones (e.g.IPhone) have built in WI-FI capability and can access the Internet just like with a laptop/PDA and using the same networks.

In addition modern mobile phones can access the mobile 3G network and use it to connect to the Internet.

However you don't need a mobile phone to access the Internet using the 3G mobile network. Many mobile providers offer USB dongles (3G mobile cards) that plug into a laptop and can connect to the Internet over 3G.

This type of access is ideal for travelling users as WI-FI access points are not normally readily available outside of large city areas.

See Internet access using a Mobile phone/Mobile device.

Other Office Network

If you are in another business premise on a visit then you usually have

Dial up Connection

Before public WiFi hotspots became available the main method of connecting to the internet when away on business was via a dial up connection. The dial up connection was usually established using a mobile phone or phone socket (hotel/remote office).

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