Worth buying a netbook if no home wireless network?

October 16, 2009 9:13 AM

Clueless noob here who's never owned any mobile eq, not even a cell phone. Have 2 aging PCs @ home, not networked. Just been offered an excellent deal on a netbook, and envision sitting anywhere in my house using it instead of sharing desktops w my kids. I live in a major metropolitan area; with a netbook, will I likely get internet wherever I go? Or do I have to (1) set up a home wireless network and (2) use the netbook only @ coffee shops?
posted by Nicky Diva to computers & internet (10 comments total)

Many places you go will have wi-fi, though it won't always be free. You're probably not going to be able to pick up free wi-fi at home if the surrounding area is residential. Most folks these days have their home network at least basically protected, which if you're new to this will be enough to keep you out. If you have no interest in providing internet to the other PCs in your house and want to have maximum mobility consider getting your netbook with a built in aircard from one of the cellular companies. I've been using one from AT&T a lot lately and the performance is not noticeably different from DSL.
posted by IanMorr at 9:20 AM on October 16 [1 favorite]

with a netbook, will I likely get internet wherever I go?

No. The netbook has (or at least should have) wireless connectivity to WiFi. Full mobile access requires an additional (expensive) service in addition to your home ISP as well as equipment (basically an antenna) that the netbook likely does not have.

A "netbook" is just a fancy term for a small laptop. It's not an access-anywhere device like a smartphone.

(1) set up a home wireless network

This. Wireless routers are cheap.
posted by mkultra at 9:24 AM on October 16 [1 favorite]

IanMorr -- Aircard = monthly subscription like w a cell phone?
posted by Nicky Diva at 9:26 AM on October 16

Yes. In NA at least, this can be fairly expensive. We pay about $25-70/mo for service in Canada. It's metered by how much you use it.
posted by bonehead at 9:43 AM on October 16

Yeah, it's more expensive than DSL, but if access wherever you go is important you'll need one anyway. Mine's ~$40 a month for up to 5GB of data, which you're not going to exceed with normal usage.
posted by IanMorr at 10:24 AM on October 16

This is Alberta, I have a friend with a Roger's usb device that sounds similar to this aircard.
posted by canoehead at 10:40 AM on October 16

To be clear, though: if you set up a home wireless network, you will NOT have to pay any sort of monthly fee. All you'll have to do is spend about $50 for the router and then set it up. You'll then be able to use your netbook from anywhere within the house.

The monthly fees are for if you want to be able to use the netbook anywhere away from home, not just at coffeeshops.
posted by wyzewoman at 11:11 AM on October 16

Or rather: if you set up a home wireless network, you won't have to pay any monthly fee beyond what you're already paying for internet for your two desktop computers.
posted by wyzewoman at 11:12 AM on October 16

It looks like you're in the US. I just bought a netbook, although I've got a history of tech service behind me. I'm going to assume this is a windows machine, for the sake of general discussion; I'm not familiar with mac netbooks and I do not recommend linux for you. Here's what you'll want:

1. For home access/internet use: Buy a wireless router for the house. The computers that have wired internet access can still keep it, but if they're equipped to go wireless you can set all the computers up like that. The netbook I bought has wireless access that I barely had to set up - just entered the security code. You will want to set the wireless router up 'secured' with a password that is VERY HARD to guess. Since you won't need it very often - only when new computers need access to it - make it something like 9gn3nd93joi45 or whatever and write it down somewhere secure.

2. Outside-access: You don't get magic internet access, but in an urban area, some places will have wireless available. Most netbooks, at least the new windows ones, be able to sense wireless networks nearby. A bubble will pop up and tell you this. For example, I know that if I'm in the hospital cafeteria, I can get access on my netbook, because there is free guest wireless access available. If I'm at home, I can see my wireless network and all my neighbors - which are all 'secured'.

The bubble that pops up, when you click on it, will show a panel with the local networks and what kind, being secured or unsecured. You can only connect to insecure networks (on windows, with no lock symbol) unless you get a password for a secured network. Friends' houses might be set up like this (I have handful of people we gave the ugly password to) or sometimes places like coffee houses might do this. Some places will have free access. You DO NOT want to put secure information on unsecured networks. If you access something like gmail, you can set it up to use https:// always, which makes it safer, but generally, don't access anything like your bank accounts while you're on unsecured networks. If you do this, it is advisable to get familiar with internet security, as well.
posted by cobaltnine at 11:16 AM on October 16

To be clear, let me enumerate your options. Apologies if this is a little basic, I'm not certain how much you know, so I'm assuming nothing.

1) Home

a - You need to purchase a connection from an internet service provider. This will almost certainly be a choice between a cable (TV) or telephone (DSL) company. It has a monthly fee typically based on connection speed and perhaps total data usage. They will provide you with a modem to plug into.

b - the second part is a wireless router. These can be had cheap on ebay or craigslist. The Linksys WRT54G family are inexpensive and normally pretty dependable. For a netbook in particular, you don't need the latest or greatest. One that is rated for a "G" type wireless network will be fine for you.

The router plugs into the modem and controls the connection. You can plug the other computers into the router (which can function as a wired router as well as a wireless one) to share the internet connection. Your netbook can be used anywhere in the house to connect to your router. Routers have a range of 30 to 100 feet, enough to cover most houses, even in the back yard.

Outlay: ~$50 for the router + installation for the internet service. Costs $20-$50/mo for ISP service.

2) Out of the House

a) Don't pay anything: use free wi-fi spots, sometimes called hotspots. Semi-common, particularly, as you note, in cafes. You can also connect to random open networks, but this isn't very secure and it's rather controversial---I liken it to using someone's outdoor watertap without their knowledge, but others have more permissive views.

b) Pay for wi-fi service like boingo.com. Limited availability (city centres, airport lounges) and expensive (~$30/mo last time I looked). Mostly for business people with expense accounts.

c) Buy a "data stick"+monthly plan, one of those cellular data devices mentioned above. Again, from a celular/mobile telephone company, for some significant amount per month, often locked into a 2- or 3-year contract.

Personally, I do 1 and 2a. That works for me.
posted by bonehead at 11:32 AM on October 16