stupid internet question

you will find some places with free internet and then others like pilot and TA where you have to purchase internet time.....but yeah bring the laptop it can help make the downtime more bearable

 

There are also pretty cheap options too for internet access....VirginMobile has a pretty good plan for a wireless dongle to give you unlimited (but at a lower speed than max) on the sprint cell-phone data network...about $40 a month..so not bad compared to paying $12 a night...and it will work along MOST major highways...they also have a limited amount for less $ plan...good for email....
Better coverage is available from Verizon or AT&T (among others), but the cost is more for less data...

 

you can also go to walmart and pick up a few cheap video games for your laptop. or download (legally) movies to watch. alot you can do with a laptop even without wifi.

 

yeh i know the feeling about the cheap part. i have a netbook (a year old rental, bleh). but it works to surf and play simple games like bejeweled, small games with little graphics.

 

The WIFI question again!
STOP! WIFI can be dangerous to use!
All of the virus protection and firewalls will do you no good when you get logged onto a hijacked WIFI signal!
WIFI is not "cheap!" go on line right now and look up the major truck stops and look at the prices of WIFI by the hour or day!
Get a good broadband card from your cell provider or another one.
WIFI can be hacked easly! You do NOT want to go to anything where your money is at stake as in your bank, credit cards or any site that uses a password even your email! If the WIFI site has been hijacked then when you sign on all they do is copy your sign ons and passwords and if you go to your bank site you can bank on your account disappearing!
Security on a WIFI is next to nill!

Another bad thig about WIFI is you have to be where it is! If you're stuck at a dock all day where or how do you plan to get on line?
If you pay the monthly cost for just ONE truck stop chain, then you have to get to that truck stop in your area! What if you do not have the driving time to stop there? what if your hours has you stopping at a different place? Now you'll have paid stupid money to TA, Petro, Pilot, or whoever and can't use it when you need it! So that 425 bucks was actually a waste as why pay that kind of money and not be able to use the service not to mention that WIFI is like a radio signal. If you are parked in the back 40 of the lot and a truck drives in front of you or there is a truck parked and blocking the antenna your signal will be worse that old AOL dialup was! I know I used it until the cops busted a driver parked next to me running a hijacked signal at the Pilot in Des Moines IA! I never went back! Plus playing an onlione game on a truck stop WIFI is terrible! Nothing like jumping over something and you freeze in mid air and when the signal comes back you've been shot by every noob in the room!

When you figure that $25 a month out you'll find that the per hour usage is actually more than a dedicated broadband unlimited card that you can use at any loading dock, rest area, parking lot or truck stop and have better service than what you were paying for with a WIFI! Mainly because it's there 24/7 IF you're in their service area! And you'll be in their service area 1000% more than that truck stop's WIFI coverage area!
Besides, you'll be using it for your work looking up shippers and receivers, getting maps and maybe emailing stuff to the office so it's tax deductible!

But, it's there when you need it not when you can get there!
Pay for the unlimited service as 1,2 3,4,5 up to 10 gigs is jack crap if you want to watch a movie or look at you tube or Skype with the kids, wife or GF! Look up the usage chart for the provider and see what I mean! A 1.5 hour movie does eat up that limit!

 

Good post rollover. It is easy to capture data on a WIFI signal. Even if WEP encryption is used, 40 bit is easy, 128 bit more difficult but not impossible given a little time. WPA and WPA2 are very much harder to crack.

One thing about online banking, they use at a minimum 128 bit encryption on the site. In addition to the (if any) encryption on the WIFI signal. To crack 128 bit site encryption takes more time than an individual has life left and computers to dedicate to the task.

E-mail and general web browsing is basically "open text". Meaning anyone that can decode the WIFI signal can read the data being transmitted.

A good firewall, antivirus, and anti-spyware/malware set of software will keep any laptop secured. You have to learn the software though. Also, you need to keep the software updated. I would recommend staying away from any Microsoft AV/AS. They are the giant in the industry so hackers everywhere attack them constantly.

WIFI can be safe to use, you have to be smart about it. I used to work as a "whitehat" security guy. Which was very fun since I got to hack into places on purpose and get paid for it.

Oh, and BTW, freeware security software can be as good as how much you paid for it.

 

Problem with software firewalls, the hacker is already on your puter when he hacks through it. Doesn't take agenius to hack stuff from a public WiFi even with WEP/WPA turned on. All the need is the 'paid' access. Everything on a local area network is visible to everything else on the LAN/WLAN.

Get a mobile boardband card or if your phone can tether use it. Harder to hack.