When you're at public Wi-Fi hotspots, it's easier to keep your laptop than your data from being stolen. If you didn't already know that, welcome to the paranoid club.

The risk isn't that someone will target you individually, but rather that freely available tools let casual snoopers sniff all passing wireless data at a hotspot and sift for e-mail account information and passwords that are typically sent without any scrambling or encryption. (All reliable bank and e-commerce Web sites encrypt your browsing sessions, incidentally.)

The cracker doesn't have to be sitting next to you, either. They could be across the street, in an apartment or in the next room at a hotel. Wi-Fi signals pass — at least weakly — for some distance. Full Story...

McDonald's and Austin-based Wayport Inc. have activated a network of high-speed wireless access at 32 McDonald's restaurants in 18 area cities including Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Plano, Richardson, Garland, Carrollton and Farmers Branch.

Others will be added as the system expands, with a goal of getting Wi-Fi access into about 6,000 McDonald's locations nationwide, said Michele DeWenter, Wayport's marketing communications manager. Find all McDonalds locations

Unlike in downtown where users have to pay, library users are able to connect free with a laptop computer.

To connect, laptop-computer users will need to have an 802.11B wireless card, and the latest version of either Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator Internet browsing software.

To learn more, go to www.tempe.gov/library and click on "Wireless at the Library."

RVers on the road needing to check their e-mail can take advantage of two new Wi-Fi spots town officials have opened in an effort to help market Main Street.

One is in the Frisco Town Hall at First and Main, open now, and the other is in the Frisco/Copper Information Center in the Old Town Hall at Third and Main. Wi-Fi there becomes available Dec. 1.

The sites provide free high-speed wireless internet access for any computer including notebooks, tablet PCs or Pocket PCs that are Wi-Fi enabled. Full Story...

Transnet Wireless Corporation announces a deal with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources that will provide Transnet Wireless Internet systems to park locations throughout the state, and make available e-mail and high-speed, wireless Internet access to campers and park-goers for a small fee.

The first Internet kiosk already has been installed in Pere Marquette State Park - one of Illinois' premier park and camping locations. Full Story...

While WiFi may be the Internet connection of choice for travelers, it is not always available. There are times when wired broadband or even old-fashioned dial-up may be the only options.

In addition, your home or office Internet service provider may not be accessible on the road

One of the latest solutions is a roaming ISP, which offers multiple connection options -- standard dial-up, WiFi and wired broadband -- through a single service and interface. Full Story...

If you want to understand wireless networking at its simplest level, think about a pair of $5 walkie-talkies. These are small radios that can transmit and receive radio signals. When you talk into a walkie-talkie, your voice is picked up by a microphone, encoded onto a radio frequency and transmitted with the antenna. Another walkie-talkie can receive the transmission with its antenna, decode your voice from the radio signal and drive a speaker. Full Story...