Category list

On the Plane

If you're used to having your mobile phone ready and willing to answer the call of duty at all times, you may feel a bit naked when the flight attendant tells you to shut your phone off for the remainder of the flight.

As long as you've got your trusty laptop (and, hopefully, have charged its battery), you'll have plenty to keep your mind distracted during the flight. And if you're lucky enough to be on a flight that actually has broadband Internet access, you can communicate in any number of waysinstant messaging with friends across the globe, video chatting, voice over IP (which allows phone calls over the Internetsee Chapter 8), and so forth.

Flyin' with Wi-Fi

Remember when it was a novelty just to make an overpriced phone call from your seat? Well, if the FCC and the airline carriers have their way, you'll be able to connect wirelessly to the Internet at broadband speeds.

As of this writing, the airlines already experimenting with the broadband wagon are Korean Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines System, Japan Airlines, ANA, Singapore Airlines, and China Airlines. So far, no U.S. carriers have announced this capabilityhowever, Qualcomm and American Airlines have tested in-cabin mobile phone usage using CDMA mobile phones on an American Airlines aircraft. Through an in- cabin cellular network, passengers on the test .ight were able to place and receive calls, send and receive text messages, and check voicemail as if they were on the ground.

It's not just the airlines that are providing Wi-Fi for their customers. A Boston bus company called LimoLiner (www.limoliner.com) provides wireless Internet access on trips between Boston and New York Cityplus power outlets for your laptop, DVDs of the latest movies, and more.

On Arrival

When you arrive at your destination, and the flight attendant says it's safe to reactivate all electronic devices, you'll finally be able to turn your phone on again. If you are traveling domestically, you'll want to make sure your phone can find your home network or at least a network with which your carrier has a roaming agreement. If you're traveling internationally, you'll want to make sure you're able to connect to the network and make phone calls. You might have to switch frequency bands on your cell phone when you arrivefor example, switching from 1900 GSM in North America to 900/1800 GSM in Europe, Asia, or Africa.

Chapter THREE. At Your Destination

Home, sweet temporary home. Whether you're staying at a hotel or with friends or family, the first thing you'll probably want to do is throw yourself onto the bed and breathe "ahhhh" in sheer relief. Next you might plug in and charge your laptop and cell phone so that they can have that same "ahhhh, home" feeling. And finally, if you haven't had the chance to check your email while on the road, you probably want to connect to the Internet using the nearest available connection, be it wireless or wired.

If you're staying at a hotel and you weren't able to find one that offers wireless access (see Chapter 1), you can create your own Wi-Fi hotspot right in your room to increase your mobility. If not, you'll probably have to suffer through being attached at the hip (or Ethernet port) to the desk in your roomor worse (shudder), using your laptop's built-in dial-up modem with a phone cable.

Flylib.com

Category list

Similar pages

On the Plane

On the Plane

Flyin' with Wi-Fi

On Arrival

Chapter THREE. At Your Destination

Similar products