Introduction
T
he other day I was watching The Andy Griffith Show. It was an episode
I've probably seen ten thousand times. (You think I'm exaggerating, don't
you? There's a reason I own TAGS on DVD.) Andy was using a phone stuck on
the wall in his kitchen to talk with Aunt Bea, who was in Mt. Pilot. In order to
let Opie talk to her, Andy had to lift him up to the mouthpiece. When I first
started lugging a laptop around the country with me, I felt kind of like Andy
and Opie; I had to bring the laptop to the phone if I wanted to connect to the
Internet -- and the phone wasn't always located in the most comfortable or
convenient places.
All that changed for me when truck stops began offering the possibility of
making a wire-free connection to the Internet. Suddenly, from almost any-
where in the facilities or on the lot, I could get online easily (what a concept).
I love the freedom afforded me by having the option of making a wireless con-
nection to the Internet -- and now, whether you're traveling the highways in
a truck or RV, using the facilities of (say) a campground or truck stop, it's
possible for you to enjoy that freedom, too.
About This Book
There are, quite literally, millions of books -- and they collectively contain
more information than any one person could ever hope to comprehend. Just
for the sake of argument, though, let's say you had, in fact, both read and
comprehended all that information. . . . So what? Knowledge is only half the
battle. At some point in time, for knowledge to be an asset, you've got to get
up out of your chair, walk out of the classroom, and actually do something
with that information.
Among this book's goals is a dual purpose: (1) providing you with both the
information you need about the whys and wherefores of making a wireless
Internet connection in an over-the-road environment, and (2) showing you
some ways you can use that knowledge to meet specific Wi-Fi needs in the
real world.
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