What is WiFi?

Overview:
Wi-Fi, also known as Wireless Fidelity, allows you to connect to the Internet from anywhere outside, in your home, hotel, conference room, or at work without any wires. For years, we have been limited to fast Internet access within walls and near a wired connection. Many communities in this country still do not have access to the Internet faster than a dialup modem (56K). Wi-Fi technology brings the freedom of the Internet without wires to those communities as well as metropolitan cities throughout the country and the world with access speeds up to 54 megabytes (1000K*54).

Why Do I Need Wi-Fi?
Imagine you are sitting in the parking lot across from your customer's place of business and forgot to bring the important presentation that is sitting on your company's computer network. Wi-Fi would allow you to connect your laptop to the Internet while sitting in your car and gain access to your companies system to retrieve that ever so important document or e-mail.

Wi-Fi allows you to sit outside and surf the Internet for fun or business without cables, and although many are wondering why you would want your laptop outside, others are already building Wi-Fi into their products and creating new applications to make our lives better.

Wi-Fi is currently being installed in thousands of products, including cell phones, laptops, desktop computers, home appliances, PDAs, and automobiles, to mention a few. Users do not want to carry around multiple communication devices to access various networks. Wi-Fi enables you to access not only your home network, but thousands of public Hot Spots and Hot Zones, including Verge Wireless. Wi-Fi simply put, is becoming the standard way to access the Internet without wires.

To view a list of some of the devices we support, click here.

How Can It Be Free?
Verge Wireless Hot Zones™ offer free access to the Internet and services on the Hot Zone as well as paid services. Free services are restricted and still requires a registration. Verge Wireless believes that our Hot Zones should be a community effort to ensure that everyone has access to the Internet. We also believe that the success of our Hot Zone is not based on Internet access, but how we design, use and develop services around our Hot Zones. For that reason, a Verge Wireless Hot Zone is a community effort and a way for local business and government to extend services to it's community residents and visitors. To learn more about services available on our Hot Zones or how you can showcase your services to Hot Zone users, click here.

Is It Safe?
With the introduction of Public Wireless Access Networks (PWLAN), there has been much talk about security. Wi-Fi is a great way to access the Internet, but users should protect their devices from access while connected. Every user should have a Personal Firewall installed on their device as well as the standard virus protection. Business users should consider using VPN (Virtual Private Network) connections to their corporate offices while connected to our network or any public system. Through our partners, we also offer custom secured mobile access to large and small corporations.

Verge Wireless uses SSL security to protect your personal information. We also do not give out any information to 3rd parties without your permission. Please read our privacy statement at the bottom of the page for more information on this topic.

To learn more about how to protect yourself while accessing our network or any public network, please click here.