Wireless Home Networking - Index of

312
Part IV: Using a Wireless Network
corner on the status bar, depending on which browser you’re using). Check
the certificate that pops up and make sure the name of the business in the
certificate is the one you think you’re connected to.
If you use Google’s Gmail service (http://mail.google.com), navigate to the
site using https (in other words, go to https://mail.google.com) and you’ll be
securely connected to it.
If your ISP supports it, you can also configure your e-mail client to use a
secure login, so when you download e-mail you’ll be using an encrypted connection.
How you set this up depends on both your e-mail client and your
ISP’s configuration, so search your ISP’s Web site support section for “Secure
IMAP” or “Secure POP.”
No matter what you do for security in a hot spot, always be aware that you
are in a public place using unsecured airwaves. People can eavesdrop on your
Wi-Fi signal and they can probably also “shoulder surf” and just read your
screen. Keep that in mind!
Dealing with Hot Spots
on Mobile Devices
A number of mobile devices — by that we mean smartphones and PDAs —
are now equipped with built-in Wi-Fi capabilities. You can also find Wi-Fi built
into handheld gaming devices (such as the Nintendo DS), in music/video
players such as Apple’s iPod Touch and Microsoft’s Zune, and in VoIP and
Skype phones (as discussed in Chapter 13).
Due to the portable nature of these devices, you’ll find that you’re more likely
to have them tucked away in your pocketbook (or “man purse” . . . oops, we
mean trendy messenger bag) when hot spot access is available.
Getting online with one of these devices is easy when there’s an open hot
spot available to you. In fact, most of them will automatically associate with
the hot spot and get you online. (Note: How this works is a device-by-device
process, so read the manual if you don’t know how to connect to a Wi-Fi
network with your particular portable device.)
Where this process gets to be a bit difficult is when you’re in a location that
requires you to register to get online (either as a way of making a payment
or just to register with a free hot spot for access). Typically, hot spots that
require registration do so in one of two ways: