Using Wi-Fi With or Without a Wired Broadband Line

Deborah writes: I recently got a new laptop and it has a wireless transceiver installed. I've had no trouble accessing the internet through free hotspots. But, it would be nice to access the Internet from home and I want to find out what I need. I don't have a phone line, DSL, cable, or ISP (I only use a cell phone). If I bought a router and signed up for internet service, would that work? Please advise.

You figured it out, Deborah. Wi-Fi only works if it has an access point to connect to. The typical way to do this in a home environment is sign up for Internet service with either a cable or DSL provider. They'll install or send you a broadband modem, which is your line to the Internet. You then connect your own Wi-Fi router to the cable or DSL modem, and that's how you can connect to the Internet wirelessly. Expect to pay $30 to $60 a month for broadband service, depending on your provider and the speed of the connection. (You can also do this using a phone line, but I would highly advise against it.)

There's at least one other good solution for you and that's to buy the Junxion Box (pictured), a device that integrates a wireless router and a cellular data card into one box. Instead of connecting via the phone line or cable, it uses a high-speed cellular connection to get you online. I've been using a test Junxion Box for a few days now, and I can report that it works great. Overall responsiveness is a little slower than my cable modem connection, but if you don't want to install a new broadband service or live in an area where broadband isn't available, it's a great alternative.

Note that you will need to add your own cellular PC Card modem to the Junxion Box to get it to work. This can be obtained as part of your cell plan and typically costs about $100 to $200, plus up to $80 a month for unlimited service. Considering the Junxion Box itself costs $699, you're in for a big bill if you go this route, but for some locations, it's the best (and possibly only) way to get hooked up.

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