I need a little help from laptop owners please.

I asked my daughter what she wanted for Christmas and she said a "Sprint wireless internet card". Sounds easy enough...right...

So I google what she said and a bunch of stuff popped up, needless to say I'm not sure what to get. I asked her for more specifics and she said, and I quote "Idunno". I asked if she had any friends with what she wants and she said, and I quote "Idunno". I asked her what she wants to do with her laptop, and she said she wanted to be able to get online whenever and wherever she wants (paraphrasing).

Mind you she will be 20 in January

Now, my question is do any of you laptop owners know what type of card I need to accomplish this goal?

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Wireless laptop adapter cards are necessary for mobile workers to take advantage of hot spots and Wi-Fi Internet access in hotels, airports and train stations. Working on the road is much easier when you can connect to the Internet or company network using a wireless laptop adapter.
Linksys WPC54G Wireless-G Notebook Adapter...is just one example....Although my son has a laptop that has a built in card and sometimes he still can't connect if he isn't in a hot spot or someone has their connection blocked.

Thanks for the reply, that's what I thought, but I asked her and she said it had to be either sprint, verizon, etc. She's saying it has to be from a phone service provider and I found this thing

Sprint Mobile Broadband Connection Card
http://www.sprint.com/business/produ...PcsPhones.html

Could it be what she needs?

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Ok, quick question....
Is your daughter in college? She needs another internet provider? With Sprint, there is a monthly fee around 50 dollars to access the internet. It's basically a new internet line. I had it and gave it up. It was too slow for the money. Now , what I do is look for free wireless hotspots! Most mcdonalds and tacobells even offer it. It was not needed in my case; only the wireless G card like cluelessdoll mentioned.

Yep, she's in college and pretty clueless as to what she needs. She thinks I'm going to be paying the monthly fee...

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My guess is too call the Dorms and ask them if there are any FREE Wifi's in the area or
go here
http://www.wi-fihotspotlist.com/

I found many more that were NOT on the list when I was traveling across country this summer.
I hope this helps and good luck!

You both helped tremendously! I'll either get her both or give her cash and let her sort it out.

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This is what she is talking about....I think.
http://www.sprint.com/pcsbusiness/pr...dvantages.html

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That settles it. She's getting the cash and the headache...

and her annual horsey ornament

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If you go to Circuit City and talk to one of the sales people...they can tell you what you need. After hurricane Katrina, when we had no cable (so no internet) for about 2 months, I checked into other internet options. I don't have a phone line (totally cellular) so no dial up access. At Circuit City, the sales guy told me about a service that Verizon has (and I imagine Sprint, etc too) where you get a special adaptor for your laptop (also available for desktop, but less common) where you can access internet through your cellphone service over your laptop (wireless internet that connects through the special adaptor thingy...I guess it is through Satellite or something). It is NOT the same thing as having a wireless card where you have to be in a "hot spot" to use your service. You can actually use it anywhere you want because your wireless company is providing the service (you do not have to subscribe to that company's cellphone service, and just have the internet thing through them, but it more expensive to have just the internet service without their phone service). You pay monthly, just like with any internet service, but you pay it to the cell phone company who provides the service.

Anyway, talk to the guys at Circuit City that do the cellphone & computer sales. They should know what you need and the costs, etc

Thanks momofdrew! Sadly, I have given out too much reputation

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You are welcome ....and that is okay. I think that I must be the only person on MC that doesn't really care about the "reputation" thing.

My laptop has wi-fi already built in. I had my laptop with me at our friends house to show them some pictures I had taken.
Up came a box saying it had "found" a wireless connection and did I want to connect??

It showed 2 that I could use to access the internet. And also a couple that said secure.
Must have been their neighbors.
Now this makes me wonder if anyone is able to use MY connections?? I have no idea how secure mine is??

If you have a wireless router in your home and it's not password protected; anyone near by can access the internet through your router...

If I did not have my own wireless...I can get on atleast 5 of my neighbors(no idea who they are).
I do have one neighbor who recently bragged for not needing to pay for internet since the block is so full of routers!!