Connecting wirelessly while out and about

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

Putting 3g aside, please talk to me about using a netbook while at cafes and hotels and other random places with wifi please. What do I do - do I need passwords and other stuff?

thanks

Some places (like McDonalds) it's free. Others are part of one of the schemes (like BT Openzone) that you have to pay for, either by buying minutes in advance or an hourly rate there and then

ah ha!
That is useful to know. Thank you

Is it easy to set it up? - would a netbook detect wifi automatically when i open firefox or would I have to search for a new connection

i'm finding this link quite helpful now that you've mentioned btopenzone

Normally, you just click on the little wifi icon in the bottom bar, right click and select 'view available wifi connections'. You then select the one advertised in the shop or whatever, and click connect. Then start Firefox and the router will send you to the page to put in passwords etc. Theres always a leaflet about it somewhere

cool - thanks cmot - thats really helpful