Laptop Wireless Internet Access, What Is It And Where Is It?

All of us that have a laptop know that we can connect to the internet at any given time in one of two ways: 1) by plugging a cable into the side or back of the laptop, and then having the other end of that cable mysteriously disappear into the wall or some other strange socket on a router, hub, or cable modem, and 2) the wireless internet access way, where there are no cables, plugs, or strange devices to deal with, and your laptop just connects to the internet whenever you are in range of a WiFi hotspot or WiFi connecting device.

The cable way, knows as Ethernet Wire Access, is a known headache for most of us who have travelled with our laptop and checked into a hotel room, only to find that there is an Ethernet wall jack but no cable in sight to make the connection.  The other way that is much more simple and headache-free, is the Laptop Wireless Internet Access way that uses no cables to get you online, regardless of whether you want to connect from the home, at work, or when travelling abroad.

But just what is it that provides for your laptop wireless internet access, as there are no obvious antennae coming out of the laptop, nor any other indication of a connection except perhaps for a tiny blinking light or thumb switch?  The heart of any laptop's wireless access lays beating on the laptop's main circuit board and under the cover of the keyboard, hidden from prying eyes.  In most cases it's a matchbook-sized circuit board that actually clips onto the main circuit board (sometimes called the motherboard) just as a memory chip does.  This allows for easy replacement if anything goes wrong with the circuitry, although it's not a user-replaceable item like memory chips.  However, if you were to dig inside to find the wireless card, you would see that it does indeed have an antenna emanating from it at some point in its design.

Also on the laptop wireless card you will most likely find a sticker labelled 'WiFi-Alliance Certified' and some other numbers and letters forming strange combinations like '802.11b & 802.11g' and 'IEEE 802.11'.  These are designations given to the type of protocols and standards that your laptop wireless internet access uses to keep connected to the internet.  Note: sometimes wireless laptop cards are not cards at all, but instead are integrated chips soldered onto the motherboard of your laptop; in that case you won't see these designations anywhere, but you can always find them in your laptop's 'specifications' section of the users guide.  Regardless of your laptop's hardware configuration, these protocols and standards have been designed and integrated into your laptop's circuitry designs with one goal in mind, to allow you to reliably & safely connect to other computers and to the internet without the headache of dropped or inconsistent connections – and that's what good laptop wireless internet access is all about.