At 02:07 PM 12/29/2005 -0800, you wrote: 
>>>>
Query, is there any service or program (e.g.T-Mobile or Verizon) available
that would allow wireless Internet access from my office in Golden Valley
or do I need to locate a Hot Spot? My goal is to at least access E-mail via
a wireless connection for my laptop. Not interested in devices such as the
Blakberry product.Move to Chaska or Richfield and soon Minneapolis? Thanks
for any suggestions or ideas you might have.     Frank Commers 
<<<<

Hello,

I'm sharing my response with the tcwug mailing list so that others with
similar questions can benefit from it.

For general wide area wireless Internet access you can look into the EDGE
and EVDO technologies being offered by T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon.  They
cover portions of the Twin Cities area, but I don't really know the current
extent.  Search google for more info on these systems.  These are
proprietary technologies requiring special PCMCIA or USB client cards, and
monthly subscriptions.

Alternatively, if you only need to access the Internet wirelessly at your
office, why not add a wireless router to your office's broadband
connection?  I suggest the Linksys WRT54GL, WRT54G (but not version 5 which
has serial numbers starting with CDFB, good versions are still available at
MicroCenter in St Louis Park), or the WRT54GS (but not version version 4
which has serial numbers starting with CGN60) wireless routers.  This
method would use the 802.11b/g standards, and are built into most recent
laptops.  The Chaska system is 802.11b/g, the same technology as in
standard wireless routers, only used in a wider geographic scale.

Finally, there are also wireless ISPs in town that offer broadband internet
access to homes and businesses using a fixed-wireless connection from the
ISP's transmitter to a client's address.  These may be good alternatives to
Comcast cable or Qwest DSL, and the only low-latency (low-lag) broadband
alternative in areas not already served by cable or DSL.  Satellite
internet service comes in behind these other options as it is high-latency,
often download-only (requires a modem for the uplink), and bandwidth limits
tend to be more heavily enforced.

-Haudy Kazemi