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Staying connected
More and more, you can Wi-Fi for free
Friday, February 18, 2005
ALEC HARVEY
News staff writer
Claude Small spent about 45 minutes last week waiting on his oil change and tire rotation at Estes Warehouse Tires in Hoover.
But while sitting in Estes' waiting room, the insurance agent was still at work, reading and writing e-mail and doing other work on his computer.
"It's just an extreme convenience to come in and be able to access my business so easily," he says. "Two years ago, I went down to LA, Lower Alabama, and had my dial-up modem in my laptop. I had to find a phone number I could use before I could get it to work."
At Estes, Small simply turned on his laptop and went to work, thanks to the company's free wireless Internet access.
Estes is one of a growing number of companies that offer free wireless (or Wi-Fi) hot spots, allowing customers to access the Internet on their wireless-ready laptop computers.
Homewood's Cool Beans coffee shop opened a little over a year ago, and owner Amy Anderson began offering customers free wireless access soon after. Now, the shop draws students and business professionals who don't want to be too far away from their e-mail and other Internet amenities.
"Certain types of people tend to come in at certain times during the day," Anderson says. "Evening time is more of a time for college students and high-school students. During the day, it's more business people."
Finding Wi-Fi hot spots is a priority for Betsy Mathews, a corporate headhunter who meets with clients throughout the day. She's been frustrated by larger bookstores and coffee chains that charge for their wireless access (usually $5-$9.95 for the day), especially since she's already paying for coffee and other items while she's meeting.
"If I'm going to spend $45 a day meeting people in coffee shops, I'm not going to spend it where I can't get on the Internet," Mathews says, citing Cool Beans, Forest Park's La Reunion and Jonathan Benton Bookseller in Mountain Brook Village as three of her favorite "hot" spots.
The old college try:
George Atkinson, a second-year medical student at UAB, says he and his classmates often seek out Wi-Fi hot spots to catch up on missed lectures.
"A lot of the lectures are generally available online, so we can always go on the Internet, listen to the lecture, see the slides," he says. "A coffee shop is good for us because we tend to drink a lot of coffee, too."
UAB, like some other colleges, offers wireless access on campus to students and employees, especially in areas where students tend to study.
Still, Atkinson says, it's good to be able to get off campus.
"Sometimes, you just want to get away," he says. "This way, we're still connected."
So how difficult is it to get up and running in a Wi-Fi hot spot? Usually, not difficult at all.
First of all, your computer needs to be wireless ready. Most newer computers are good-to-go, and you can outfit an older computer with a wireless adapter ($35-$45 in some stores) to get them ready.
In most free hot spots, you simply sit down and get to work. Some, like Lucy's Coffee & Tea on Southside, will issue you a password at the cash register.
"I will spit out a password and a user code for them," says owner Lucy Bonds. A wireless signal extends 100-300 feet, and issuing a password cuts down on people just pulling up near Lucy's and using the signal.
Bonds, like most other store owners who provide wireless access, doesn't require any kind of purchase. But that's usually not a problem.
"Almost everybody who uses it has a cup of coffee," she says. "They'd feel guilty if they didn't."
Security?:
As wireless Internet access has accelerated, so have security problems, and those who provide the service, as well as those who use it, say it's always best to be cautious while online. That's especially true with Wi-Fi, since what you're doing on the computer is basically floating around in radio waves.
"I would be very careful, especially about putting passwords into sites," says Joseph Blake, a UAB sophomore who uses Wi-Fi hot spots. "If you're sending e-mail, you've got to assume that someone else can read it, so I wouldn't send anything with sensitive information in it."
Still, that's not stopping people from jumping on the Wi-Fi bandwagon. Several sites are devoted to the practice, including www.wififreespot.com and www.jiwire.com.
Jiwire.com lists more than 24,000 Wi-Fi hot spots around the country, including 164 in Alabama. Both free sites and those that charge for access are listed.
Wi-Fi is a bandwagon Jarrell Estes was pleased to jump on at the suggestion of his nephew about six months ago.
"I was very surprised that people started using it so much," says Estes, president of Estes Warehouse Tires. "We get the college kids that Dad will send in, and we do a lot of work with ladies during the week. Some of them are professional women."
It cost Estes about $200 to make his waiting room wireless. That was for the wireless card for his computer and the router to send out the signal.
Has it been worth it? Enough that Estes is now renovating his waiting area to make it more Internet user-friendly.
In a couple of weeks, desks will be installed so computer users will have a work area.
All that while waiting on work to be done on a car.
"We've had a lot of positive feedback about it," Estes says. "Wireless is the hottest thing going."
More and more, you can Wi-Fi for free
Friday, February 18, 2005
ALEC HARVEY
News staff writer
Claude Small spent about 45 minutes last week waiting on his oil change and tire rotation at Estes Warehouse Tires in Hoover.
But while sitting in Estes' waiting room, the insurance agent was still at work, reading and writing e-mail and doing other work on his computer.
"It's just an extreme convenience to come in and be able to access my business so easily," he says. "Two years ago, I went down to LA, Lower Alabama, and had my dial-up modem in my laptop. I had to find a phone number I could use before I could get it to work."
At Estes, Small simply turned on his laptop and went to work, thanks to the company's free wireless Internet access.
Estes is one of a growing number of companies that offer free wireless (or Wi-Fi) hot spots, allowing customers to access the Internet on their wireless-ready laptop computers.
Homewood's Cool Beans coffee shop opened a little over a year ago, and owner Amy Anderson began offering customers free wireless access soon after. Now, the shop draws students and business professionals who don't want to be too far away from their e-mail and other Internet amenities.
"Certain types of people tend to come in at certain times during the day," Anderson says. "Evening time is more of a time for college students and high-school students. During the day, it's more business people."
Finding Wi-Fi hot spots is a priority for Betsy Mathews, a corporate headhunter who meets with clients throughout the day. She's been frustrated by larger bookstores and coffee chains that charge for their wireless access (usually $5-$9.95 for the day), especially since she's already paying for coffee and other items while she's meeting.
"If I'm going to spend $45 a day meeting people in coffee shops, I'm not going to spend it where I can't get on the Internet," Mathews says, citing Cool Beans, Forest Park's La Reunion and Jonathan Benton Bookseller in Mountain Brook Village as three of her favorite "hot" spots.
The old college try:
George Atkinson, a second-year medical student at UAB, says he and his classmates often seek out Wi-Fi hot spots to catch up on missed lectures.
"A lot of the lectures are generally available online, so we can always go on the Internet, listen to the lecture, see the slides," he says. "A coffee shop is good for us because we tend to drink a lot of coffee, too."
UAB, like some other colleges, offers wireless access on campus to students and employees, especially in areas where students tend to study.
Still, Atkinson says, it's good to be able to get off campus.
"Sometimes, you just want to get away," he says. "This way, we're still connected."
So how difficult is it to get up and running in a Wi-Fi hot spot? Usually, not difficult at all.
First of all, your computer needs to be wireless ready. Most newer computers are good-to-go, and you can outfit an older computer with a wireless adapter ($35-$45 in some stores) to get them ready.
In most free hot spots, you simply sit down and get to work. Some, like Lucy's Coffee & Tea on Southside, will issue you a password at the cash register.
"I will spit out a password and a user code for them," says owner Lucy Bonds. A wireless signal extends 100-300 feet, and issuing a password cuts down on people just pulling up near Lucy's and using the signal.
Bonds, like most other store owners who provide wireless access, doesn't require any kind of purchase. But that's usually not a problem.
"Almost everybody who uses it has a cup of coffee," she says. "They'd feel guilty if they didn't."
Security?:
As wireless Internet access has accelerated, so have security problems, and those who provide the service, as well as those who use it, say it's always best to be cautious while online. That's especially true with Wi-Fi, since what you're doing on the computer is basically floating around in radio waves.
"I would be very careful, especially about putting passwords into sites," says Joseph Blake, a UAB sophomore who uses Wi-Fi hot spots. "If you're sending e-mail, you've got to assume that someone else can read it, so I wouldn't send anything with sensitive information in it."
Still, that's not stopping people from jumping on the Wi-Fi bandwagon. Several sites are devoted to the practice, including www.wififreespot.com and www.jiwire.com.
Jiwire.com lists more than 24,000 Wi-Fi hot spots around the country, including 164 in Alabama. Both free sites and those that charge for access are listed.
Wi-Fi is a bandwagon Jarrell Estes was pleased to jump on at the suggestion of his nephew about six months ago.
"I was very surprised that people started using it so much," says Estes, president of Estes Warehouse Tires. "We get the college kids that Dad will send in, and we do a lot of work with ladies during the week. Some of them are professional women."
It cost Estes about $200 to make his waiting room wireless. That was for the wireless card for his computer and the router to send out the signal.
Has it been worth it? Enough that Estes is now renovating his waiting area to make it more Internet user-friendly.
In a couple of weeks, desks will be installed so computer users will have a work area.
All that while waiting on work to be done on a car.
"We've had a lot of positive feedback about it," Estes says. "Wireless is the hottest thing going."