12/9/08

What are Aircards?

An aircard is a small gadget that lets you connect your computer to the internet using a signal sent out from and received by cell phone towers. Basically the aircard is like a small cell phone that attaches to your computer and lets it communicate the way a cell phone does. You can buy one from the big wireless providers like Sprint, Verizon, or AT&T. You will also need to buy a service plan.

If you live in an area where DSL or cable are not available, or if you travel to places where you can't rely on internet access, an aircard makes it possible to get high speed internet access if a cell phone signal is available. However, not all signals are created equally. The 3rd generation, or 3G, signals are the ones you want, because they provide a high speed connection if you have a 3G compatible aircard.

There are several different designs, but most aircards either fit into a card slot on your computer or can be plugged into a USB port. Some come with software on the card and others come with a disk, and you install the software yourself. Also, recently, several companies have come out with laptops that have built in aircards or modems that let the user connect to the cell towers and wide area internet access networks.

So to make a long story short, an aircard is a piece of hardware that lets you connect to the internet through a high speed wireless network.

No comments:

Post a Comment