I’ve been away from writing articles for the newsletter for a while because of my busy work schedule, but I’ve recently had some experiences with some stuff I wanted to pass along.

I’ve had wireless Internet access at home now for a couple of years but was never really impressed with it. Anytime I was close enough to the router I always plugged in my notebook with a cable and my desktop stays plugged-in all of the time. If it was absolutely necessary I would unplug and go into other rooms of the house with my notebook or PocketPC. My connection would always seem to go in and out. I typically also had the same type of problem when I traveled. But recently my daughter convinced me to upgrade to a Belkin F5D8230-4 wireless Pre-N broadband router and wireless Pre-N notebook network card. Pre-N is the latest wireless technology preceded by wireless b and g.

Since installing the Belkin, my connection has never been so strong or steady. It is at least as good as or better than my direct cable connection. I can now walk out in my yard or next door and still have a very good connection. I’m not sure if it is the addition of the wireless network card, instead of using the internal adapter, or if it is the three antennas on the router, or a combination of both. Belkin’s ad says it’s both. A new smart antenna technology that boosts wireless network speed and range far beyond that of a 802.11b or g router, and they claim the wireless network card will increase performance another 20% over the built-in internal card. All I know is that my daughter was correct. This is the fastest and most reliable wireless connection I have ever experienced. If you’re looking for a reliable, fast, wireless Internet connection, I highly recommend looking into this dynamic pair. Below is a link to a recent test done on both. http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/chart_test_report/0,chid,6089,prodid,25740,00.asp.

I’m on vacation this week as I write this, and there is something else I wanted to tell you about that has made my vacation more enjoyable. We typically go to Indian Rocks Beach in Pinellas County during the summer for a week or two. We stay at some very good friends’ condo with no broadband service. I usually just fire up my old AOL account and use it to check my email. After being on cable at home and DSL at work, dial-up is better than nothing, but in my opinion, not much. My daughter came through for me on this, too.

If you’re like me, and have not already signed up for the service, you’ve probably seen or heard the commercials about Verizon’s new wireless broadband service. Having used a cell phone in the past to access the Internet and not liked the results, I had not really paid much attention to the advertisements. Well, my daughter loaned me her Verizon wireless broadband NationalAccess PC card to use while I was here at the beach, and it is really terrific.

If you’re not familiar with it, anywhere there is cell phone access, you will be able to access the Internet at speeds typically between 400-700 kbps up to 2 Mbps. In a taxi, airport, or at a park, one click and you are connected. I will admit I was truly surprised at the ability of the service. And, if you are on a VPN at work, all of the security is included in the service to connect to that also. The card snapped into the PCMCIA slot, a setup CD was included, and after a few clicks I was connected. The charge is $79 per month for unlimited connection time. It’s a little costly when compared to other normal services, but you can’t beat the freedom of accessing the Internet anytime, anywhere. u