Refurbished Laptops & Wireless 802.11b & 802.11g
Wireless is not ubiquitous in the US. Meaning it is not available everwhere and the costs vary greatly.
If you want to unwire your laptop at home, then you need to create a wireless network. That means you need hardware to transmit the wireless signal from your desktop or your existing network over the airwaves to the laptop. A wireless network consists of a wireless Access Point (AP) and a wireless card for your laptop.
If you want go wireless while on the road, in airports, or while visiting your local university, it is possible. You will need to find access points where there is a signal for your laptop to capture. Someone will have created the network and an 802.11b or 802.11g PCMCIA card in your laptop should be all you need to connect. Many coffee shops or "Internet Cafe's", offer free wireless service for their patrons.
In order to connect your laptop to a wireless network, you have to physically be "in range" of a compatible Access Point. Typical indoor ranges are 150-300 feet and outdoor ranges are can be up to 1000 feet, but this depends upon the environment. Things that interfere with the wireless signal, referred to as the RF (radio frequency) signal, are steel enclosures such as found in some elevator shafts and some buildings. Another type of interference can be caused microwave signals.
You will need a wireless PCMCIA card for your laptop in order to connect to a wireless network. This is a credit card sized device that slides into a slot in a laptop. Fortunately, there is a standard and the two commonly available cards are the 802.11b and 802.11G. In 2000, 802.11b became the standard wireless ethernet networking technology for both business and home. With a realistic throughput of 2.54Mbps, it is fast enough for most network applications and tolerable for file transfers. 802.11g communicates at 54Mbps. We sell these cards at http://www.usedlaptops.com/accessories.htm for $30 and $40 respectively.
Connection to the cellular network is a possibility, but you need to check the costs for both the connection, the details about how to connect and the airtime costs from your cellular provider. Cellular connectivity is a different technology than RF connectivity and it might be too expensive for your budget. As always, do your research.