so explain wifi to me

[lord of the mark]

Now that we have a laptop, POTM is planning on taking it with her to the library, which "has Wifi"

what does this mean - does she just turn on the machine, and have access to the internet via the library connection? Does she have to install stuff? Is there, like, a FAQ somewhere?

[Q Classic]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wifi

Yes, pretty much. She can turn on the machine, and access the intarwebs.

In most cases, she'll have to do a quick login--for instance, at a university, she'll have to log in as a student; at Panera (free wifi) or a public library, just click through a few pages, which explain the terms of agreement.

For places like McDonald's, or many airports, it's likely the browser would redirect to a page for credit card information in order to pay for that wireless internet access.

[Q Classic]

Also:

Most new laptops are already wifi-capable; older ones require an expansion card. If the laptop was made within the last... 2 years, at least, odds are that it comes with built-in wireless.

Pretty much, for wifi to work, both the place has to have wifi access points, and you have to have something that is wifi-capable.

[lord of the mark]

Originally posted by Q Cubed
Also:

Most new laptops are already wifi-capable; older ones require an expansion card. If the laptop was made within the last... 2 years, at least, odds are that it comes with built-in wireless.

Pretty much, for wifi to work, both the place has to have wifi access points, and you have to have something that is wifi-capable.

yes, it has a built in wifi card.

[Kuciwalker]

In some cases you can just turn it on and it'll connect.

[Q Classic]

So, yes, lotm. Odds are, all she has to do is turn the laptop on, open a browser, and clicky-clicky through a few pages.