What is a hotspot?

[WiFi.com]

The simple answer is; a specific location which offers wifi Internet service.

In broader terms; The wireless range of wifi is anywhere between 100-300 feet. However, I claim the signal can reach much further (unihibited). The wifi technology is based upon sending large amounts of data through radio frequencies - I'll post another thread describing this...

There are many coffee shops, bookstores, hotels, airports, etc. which have wifi setup. This means you would need wifi hardware, like a card which is pre-installed in your laptop (or purchased aftermarket).

Currently many hotspots are offering free wifi. But this will likely change over time - more on that later. Bottom line, the speeds offered through this technology is significantly faster than dialup and based upon some of my own experiences, better than most satellite services!

Sometime in the near future you will be able to connect anywhere in populated areas. As for now, there are wifi hotspots which are small areas which are covered by businesses which use the service as a way to draw customers. You ever see people in Starbucks with thier computers? They are likely wi-fi-ing.