It's only been a few years ago that the telephone would ring, and I would hurry to one of the nearest extension phones in the house to take the call. Calls that lasted for extended periods of time found me stretching the phone and handset cords and contorting my body in all sorts of ways to try to accomplish another task while still talking on the phone. Woe to the unsuspecting person who didn’t see the phone cord stretched across the hall!

Thanks to the wireless revolution, I can no longer imagine being tethered to a "land line". My wireless phone goes with me to the utility room, outside to the flower bed and all places in between. I seldom sit to take a call, preferring to pace and wander as I listen/talk. With the addition of a cell phone, I no longer even have to stay home and wait for a call.

Wireless mobility is the new watchword in personal computing, too. There are wireless peripherals of every sort, and now, wireless Internet access. Free wireless Internet access (known as Wi-Fi) is available all over the country (and many locales outside it.) Many other places, including some McDonald’s, offer wireless Internet access for $2 or $3 an hour. In early March, the City of Springfield, in cooperation with Greene County, Springnet and the Downtown Springfield Community Improvement District, launched a Wi-Fi Hot Zone to serve those in and around the downtown area. Drive near the square, and you’ll see the banners. Taking a trip? Check http://www.wififreespot.com/ for free Wi-Fi connections along your route.

All it takes to connect wirelessly to the Internet is a wireless card and a wireless network you are allowed to access. Most laptops sold today have built-in wireless access cards. If you happen to have a laptop without a built-in card, the local technology stores offer PCMCIA and USB cards you can use in lieu of a built-in card.

The Springfield-Greene County Library District has taken the lead in offering free wireless Internet access to our community. To date, five of the library’s branches (Library Station, Library Center, Brentwood, Midtown-Carnegie and Republic) have free wireless access. Each branch has a centrally located Wireless Access Point (WAP) or transmitter that provides service for the entire building. The WAP is configured the same at each facility and has the same name, LIBRARY. To use the library’s Wi-Fi, a laptop wireless access card must be 802.11b compatible. (Make certain any 802.11g (or other) card you purchase is backwards compatible to 802.11b.)

More often than not, all you’ll need to do to connect to one of the Library's WAP's is turn your wireless access on. However, if you don’t automatically connect, set the SSID (or ESSID on some computers) to LIBRARY and disable WEP encryption. The wireless connection should be set for Infrastructure mode. (Note: Whether attempting to connect to the library or any other wireless network, do not expect support from the employees. It is up to you to configure your system to connect to the network.)

Connecting to the library's wireless Internet gives you a fast 11 mbps connection (great for big downloads). There is no time limit for your usage, and you have access to the subscription databases such as Ancestry.com or Consumer Reports. Web sites accessed through your connection to the library’s Wi-Fi are subject to the library’s filtering software, so you will not be able to view pages such as Google Images.

Wireless transmissions, by their nature, can be intercepted very easily. Many free Wi-Fi providers take no security measures so that it is easier for folks to connect. Wherever you connect, take these precautions:

• Never conduct unsecured transactions that include any account or password information over public hotspots using FTP, email, or the Web.
• Make sure that your computer does not have file sharing active (click on network settings in the Control Panel, then find and uncheck file and print sharing).
• Use a personal firewall to prevent others on the network from accessing your files.

Thanks to the library's Wi-Fi, ICON will soon be able to "eliminate the entanglement" of network cables. If you have a laptop that is wireless enabled and need help connecting, let us know. If there is a need, we’ll offer a mini-seminar on the topic!