How often do you have everything that you need right on your mobile computer? The answer might be “once in a while” or “rarely”. More often than not you will need access to information from a system that is too large, too cumbersome, or too secure to copy entirely to your laptop. In those instances you need some form of wireless access. Secure remote access to an enterprise system can be provided through an encrypted Virtual Private Network, or through a secure web application running over any number of public wireless networks. If the laptop is lost or stolen, a call to the IT department can ensure that VPN access from the lost device is disabled and any passwords that might be saved on the device can be changed on the host system. No sensitive data needs to be stored on the laptop, and real-time access to current information is always available.

Great, which system should I use WiFi or Wireless Broadband? That depends on where you need to access the network. Are you remote, or mobile? There is a difference and we all need to use the same terminology. Let’s define remote as needing access from a limited number of well defined locations. We can go on to define mobile as access from any potential location, in a widely dispersed geographical area. So for a remote user WiFi, or 802.11 wireless Ethernet, is fast, relatively secure, and inexpensive. You will need a wireless Ethernet network in each location from which you need remote access, and access rights to the wireless network. Hotspot in your favorite coffee shop, public wireless network at the local library, client’s wireless network, all work for remote access. WiFi technology is also embedded in virtually every laptop computer on the market. For the folks that need access from anywhere, Wireless Broadband is the answer. Wireless Broadband carriers can provide a PCMCIA card or a USB “card” to get you on the network. The challenge is to keep the antenna or USB card from getting broken, lost, or otherwise mangled. If you are using a rugged mobile computer the best bet is to keep as much of the electronics safely inside the magnesium alloy shell as possible. All Panasonic Toughbooks can be ordered with 802.11, Bluetooth, wireless broadband, and GPS embedded in the computer. If you are truly mobile, as in computer docked in a moving vehicle, order your computer and dock with “pass through” and connect it to an external antenna mounted on the vehicle. Just remember to have your passenger fiddle with the computer and keep your eyes on the road.