WiFi Cards and Dell

WiFi cards connect to a Network through a Wireless Access Point (WAP). The WAP in my house is actually a router. I bought it for about $120, and then bought a Type II PCICMA WiFi card for my laptop. My WAP connects to my cable modem, and I have hard wires from the router going to two computers. My laptop accesses via WAP, and so in good weather, my back yard is my "home office." That WiFi card is a very busy device. It has a radio transmitter/receiver in it, as well as some low-level encription device. I have my WAP set to sync with encryption to any wireless device, and then just for laffs, I have the WAP set to sync only with cards that have particular MAC (i.e, hard-encoded) addresses. Nobody's swiping my connection! When I get my Axim, I'm going to get a WiFi that fits into the CompactFlash slot. I'll have to register it with my WAP, but then I can access the Internet in my back yard with the Axim, too. I'll also have a second configuration stored so that when I visit my favorate coffee shop, I can connect to its WAP, too. This stuff is using the 802.11b standard. If available, I may get a CF 802.11g WiFi. However, the 802.11 "a" and "g" standards have not made much inroads in the commercial and private "hot spot" worlds yet, and a typical card is about $100. I'm likely to get tired of the Axim itself before I'll feel a need to upgrade the card.

They allow you to use your PDA on a wireless internet network.