Wi-Fi Roaming and Cell Phone Roaming Options

The Canadian company, Seaboard Group crystal ball is glowing with Wi-Fi predictions. In a recent commentary on this issue, Canadians Cut Their Wires on the Wi-Fi phenomenon, Seaboard Group predicted that by 2007, Wi-Fi hardware equipment and integration services will exceed 800 million with shipments of 1.7 million base stations and 3.2 million access cards.

This prediction is quite impressive. However, these figures do not take into account the computers that have built in Wi-Fi capability, which a new generation consumers will be buying.

What are some of the drawbacks to this huge growth spurt?

Lack of high security. The Wi-Fi network may not be secure at your local cyber caf�.

Public gateways or providers of free Wi-Fi surfing may not invest in leading edge Wi-Fi hardware or routers.

Wi-Fi hotspots offered to the public are not 100 percent reliable.

What are some of benefits to this blossoming Wi-Fi phenomenon?


FREE: Everyone loves the fact that they can bring their PDA, smartphone, laptop or Palm device to a Wi-Fi hotspot and not have to pay for Internet connection time.

The convenience factor: There are over 1000 access points or Wi-Fi hotspots installed by Rogers and Telus mobility in Canada.

FREE roaming: Normally if you are out of your cell phone roaming area or your home area, and you make a call or connect online the wireless providers will charge you a per minute usage fee. However, if you want to avoid paying expensive overage cell phone roaming fees, you can email instead of calling or text messaging using one of the public gateway access points.



The benefits to this Wi-Fi phenomenon clearly outweigh the drawbacks.

If you are a US cellular subscriber and have signed up for wireless Broadband Access with Verizon wireless, you are locked into Verizon's network. This means you can not use the public Wi-Fi hotspots with your smartphone or PDA.

Wi Fi Roaming vs. Cell Phone Roaming

If you want to call some one, or receive calls on your cellular phone and you happen to be outside your home calling area, some carriers will charge you a per minute overage access fee. These out of area charges apply even if you have a one or two year cell phone contract.

More and more people are taking advantage of the benefits associated with Wi-Fi roaming. If for example, you subscribe to your own Wi-FI provider, Wi-Fi roaming means you can use your username and password to access a different Wi-Fi service on another network without the hassle of signing up for the second Wi-Fi service. Under this scenario at month's end, the service bill will show Wi-Fi roaming charges incurred from use of an additional Wi-Fi provider. This is a huge advantage, if you don't want to sign up with 20 different Wi-Fi providers every time you go to a different access point. Use the same username and password to access the partner Wi-Fi network.

Who are some of the Wi-Fi providers that have roaming agreements?

Sprint expanded their network by having roaming agreements with Airpath Wireless, AT&T Wireless, SBC, STSN, Wayport.

Boingo Wireless also expanded their network by having roaming agreements with NetNearU, STSN, Surf and Sip, and Wayport.

Here are some free Wi-FI hotzone parks:


New York, NY - Bryant Park located between 5th and 6th Avenue and 40th and 42nd Street.


Philadelphia, PA - Love Park located at JFK Plaza opposite City Hall


Milwaukee, WI - Pier Marquette Park located off west Kilbourn Avenue between Milwaukee River and old Third Street


Boston, MA - Norman B. Leventhal Park located in downtown in the financial district, bordered by Congress, Franklin, Pearl and Milk streets


Los Gatos, CA - Los Gatos Opera house located on S. Santa Cruz Avenue and East Main Street


Austin, TX - Republic Square TX located just off West Fourth StreetHere are some free Wi-Fi hotspot finders:


PC Hotspot finder - http://pcworld.jiwire.com/


Laptop Hotspot finder - http://laptopmag.jiwire.com/, please click on Wi-Fi finder when you land on the home page


Free Hotspot Finder - http://www.wififreespot.com/

Spotting a hotspot is easy, simply click on one of the 3 databases above to find a free wi-fi public gateway access point near your area. Fatport, a Vancouver based wi-fi provider uses roaming agreements with other Wi-Fi providers to allow Fatport subscribers access to over 4000 hotspots in North America. I recently found out that I could buy a 24 hour pass to access a Fatport wi-fi hotspot for only $9.95 and only $299.95 for the entire year.

Copyright c Rene Tse, the founder and president of the website: Free cellular Phone Deals. Rene has been writing about cell phone roaming since buying her first cell phone back in the Jurassic age. Since then, Rene has written hundreds of articles on which : free mp3 cell phone, wi fi hotspots and consumers guide to which family plans cell phones & options is right for you and your family. Learn more about what other mobile phone subscribers are saying about their cell phone service experience with the various wireless providers.

I grant permission to publish this article, electronically or in print, as long as the bylines are included, with 2 live links, and the article is not changed in any way.

Some Precautions - Identity Thieves Combine Offline And Online Options

Two out of five identity theft victims surveyed by the Identity Theft Assistance Center (ITAC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting identity theft through victim assistance, research and law enforcement partnerships) know how their personal data was stolen. This knowledge provides valuable insight about how identity theft occurs.

When ITAC surveyed 275 identity theft victims who used the ITAC's free service over a one-month period, 160 consumers (58%) did not know the source of their identity theft. Another 115 consumers (42%) did know how their information was compromised. These 115 consumers attributed their identity theft to the following sources:

* Friends, relatives, in-home employees - 26 cases, or 22.61%

* Computer hacker/virus/phishing - 25 cases, or 21.74%

* Mail (stolen or fraudulent address change) - 24 cases, or 20.87%

* Lost/stolen wallet, checkbook or credit card - 15 cases, or 13.04%

* Corrupt business or employee - 12 cases, or 10.43%

* Data breach - 8 cases, or 6.96%

* House burglarized - 4 cases, or 3.48%

* Instant credit - 1 case, or 0.87%

Getting accurate information about the sources of identity theft is difficult because identity theft - the opening of a fraudulent new account or account takeover - is often confused with other types of fraud, like the unauthorized use of a credit card.

Nevertheless, it is up to each of us to be on guard against the possibility that our documents, or worst yet, our computers, could be compromised. Sometimes it may seem like a losing battle, but they are some steps we can take to prevent becoming the next victim. Here are some precautions:

* Do not keep your Social Security card in your wallet.

* If your Social Security number is on your driver's license, remove it. (In some states it is now illegal for a driver's license to be issued with a Social Security number.)

* When shredding important papers, make sure you use a cross-cut. "If it is shredded in strips and not cross-cut, I can put it down right in front of me and put it back together and there you have it," says "John", who uses his skills as a computer defense specialist to protect you, and is skilled in the ways of hackers and thieves and can ruin your credit and your life.

* "Don't use wireless for anything that you would not want put in a public newspaper. Though it's a nice convenience, your information is basically floating in mid-air. I could be two blocks away with a high-powered antenna picking up his information."

* The key is defense in depth or layers: Anti-virus, computer patches, and firewalls, and most importantly, updating them once a week. There are types of protection for wireless but they can be hacked in as little as twenty minutes.

Because cybercriminals are becoming smarter and more sophisticated in their operations, they are real threats to your personal security and privacy. Your money, your computer, your family, and your business are all at risk.

To protect yourself, you need an Internet security team of experts making sure that you, your family, and your business computer are always safe and secure. The best protection you can have in today's rapidly changing world of cyber-attacks is to have expert support for all your Internet security needs that will provide technical support without any hassles and without charging you extra fees. It will become even more critical than it is today as time goes on. You need to find your own personal team of experts to rely on. If you ever have a security problem, you will want to have a trusted expert you can call for professional help, without any hassles and extra costs!

These cybercriminals leave you with three choices :

1. Do nothing and hope their attacks, risks, and threats don't occur on your computer.

2. Do research and get training to protect yourself, your family, and your business.

3. Get professional help to lockdown your system from all their attacks, risks, and threats.

Remember: When you say "No!" to hackers and spyware, everyone wins! When you don't, we all lose!

� MMVII, Etienne A. Gibbs, MSW, The Internet Safety Advocate and Educator

Resources Box:
Etienne A. Gibbs, Independent Internet Security Advocate and Educator, consults with individuals, small business owners, and home-business entrepreneurs regarding online protection (including free lifetime technical support and $25,000 identity theft insurance and recovery) against spyware, viruses, malware, hackers, and other pc-disabling cybercrimes. For more information, visit http://www.SayNotoHackersandSpyware.com/

Some Precautions - Identity Thieves Combine Offline And Online Options

Two out of five identity theft victims surveyed by the Identity Theft Assistance Center (ITAC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting identity theft through victim assistance, research and law enforcement partnerships) know how their personal data was stolen. This knowledge provides valuable insight about how identity theft occurs.

When ITAC surveyed 275 identity theft victims who used the ITAC's free service over a one-month period, 160 consumers (58%) did not know the source of their identity theft. Another 115 consumers (42%) did know how their information was compromised. These 115 consumers attributed their identity theft to the following sources:

* Friends, relatives, in-home employees - 26 cases, or 22.61%

* Computer hacker/virus/phishing - 25 cases, or 21.74%

* Mail (stolen or fraudulent address change) - 24 cases, or 20.87%

* Lost/stolen wallet, checkbook or credit card - 15 cases, or 13.04%

* Corrupt business or employee - 12 cases, or 10.43%

* Data breach - 8 cases, or 6.96%

* House burglarized - 4 cases, or 3.48%

* Instant credit - 1 case, or 0.87%

Getting accurate information about the sources of identity theft is difficult because identity theft - the opening of a fraudulent new account or account takeover - is often confused with other types of fraud, like the unauthorized use of a credit card.

Nevertheless, it is up to each of us to be on guard against the possibility that our documents, or worst yet, our computers, could be compromised. Sometimes it may seem like a losing battle, but they are some steps we can take to prevent becoming the next victim. Here are some precautions:

* Do not keep your Social Security card in your wallet.

* If your Social Security number is on your driver's license, remove it. (In some states it is now illegal for a driver's license to be issued with a Social Security number.)

* When shredding important papers, make sure you use a cross-cut. "If it is shredded in strips and not cross-cut, I can put it down right in front of me and put it back together and there you have it," says "John", who uses his skills as a computer defense specialist to protect you, and is skilled in the ways of hackers and thieves and can ruin your credit and your life.

* "Don't use wireless for anything that you would not want put in a public newspaper. Though it's a nice convenience, your information is basically floating in mid-air. I could be two blocks away with a high-powered antenna picking up his information."

* The key is defense in depth or layers: Anti-virus, computer patches, and firewalls, and most importantly, updating them once a week. There are types of protection for wireless but they can be hacked in as little as twenty minutes.

Because cybercriminals are becoming smarter and more sophisticated in their operations, they are real threats to your personal security and privacy. Your money, your computer, your family, and your business are all at risk.

To protect yourself, you need an Internet security team of experts making sure that you, your family, and your business computer are always safe and secure. The best protection you can have in today's rapidly changing world of cyber-attacks is to have expert support for all your Internet security needs that will provide technical support without any hassles and without charging you extra fees. It will become even more critical than it is today as time goes on. You need to find your own personal team of experts to rely on. If you ever have a security problem, you will want to have a trusted expert you can call for professional help, without any hassles and extra costs!

These cybercriminals leave you with three choices :

1. Do nothing and hope their attacks, risks, and threats don't occur on your computer.

2. Do research and get training to protect yourself, your family, and your business.

3. Get professional help to lockdown your system from all their attacks, risks, and threats.

Remember: When you say "No!" to hackers and spyware, everyone wins! When you don't, we all lose!

� MMVII, Etienne A. Gibbs, MSW, The Internet Safety Advocate and Educator

Resources Box:
Etienne A. Gibbs, Independent Internet Security Advocate and Educator, consults with individuals, small business owners, and home-business entrepreneurs regarding online protection (including free lifetime technical support and $25,000 identity theft insurance and recovery) against spyware, viruses, malware, hackers, and other pc-disabling cybercrimes. For more information, visit http://www.SayNotoHackersandSpyware.com/