Istanbul has hopped on the technological band wagon and joined the world of wireless internet.

Have you ever had that urge to shop crawl along İstiklal Caddesi with your laptop in hand conducting online price comparisons? How about surfing the net for some last-minute stretch tips during your yoga workout, oh say in Parkorman? This technological brilliance is in fact a veritable reality in our city. While New Yorkers have been spotted plonking themselves on sewer lids, or rather anything radar sensitive, to access their emails, and subway commuters in Hong Kong have reportedly turned into internet game zombies, one can only imagine what this phenomena can induce in Istanbulites – cyber junkies downloading music tracks on their dolmuş ride to work, or perhaps fishermen sending instant messages to each other along the Bosphorus, while taking a swing for a blue fish. Along with personal office and home spaces, specific hubs called WiFi hotspots are dotted around the city, and with a wireless card installed in your computer, you can quite simply pick up a signal, and immediately get online. Of course, the flip side to having the web available at your fingertips is that you will become accessible at all times, perhaps at the mercy of stalkers, or even your own boss. Now now -- there’s always the off button.

How to get started:
In order to access any wireless network, your computer, PC or Apple Macintosh, must have a wireless card installed. This card can pick up a signal from a device known as a base station which has a physical connection to the Internet, either via telephone line, ADSL or cable modem; working similarly to a cordless phone. Aside from the hardware, the basic technology that makes wireless possible is called LAN technology 802.11, also known as WiFi. This offers high speed wireless Internet access for local area environments. There are various streams available according to the speed rate: 802.11b offers speeds with a maximum rate of 11M bps in the 2.4 GHz spectrum band; 802.11a offers speeds with a theoretically maximum rate of 54M bps in the 5 GHz band; 802.11g is a new standard for data rates of up to a theoretical maximum of 22M bps at 2.4 GHz. Your safest bet is to purchase a wireless card that is compliant with the 802.11g stream, as this is the most widely-used technology.

For Apple Macintosh
Airport Extreme Card is a pre-installed wireless card fitted into your Macintosh. It uses wireless local area network (LAN) technology to provide wireless communication and through this network, you can set up access to the Internet, transfer files, play multiplayer games and more. The AirPort Extreme Card is compatible with both the Apple AirPort Extreme Base Station and the original Apple AirPort Base Station as well as 802.11b or 802.11g compliant products. Visit Turkey’s Apple Macintosh distributor Bilkom’s website at www.bilkom.com.tr or phone (0216) 522 14 00 for information.

For PC We recommend the Linksys series of cards. The WPC54G Wireless PCMCIA card is compatible with Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT and Millennium and works with all 802.11g networks. The base station for this card is the Linksys WAG54G Wireless ADSL Modem/Router. Linksys products can be found at Teknosa stores around town. Visit www.teknosa.com or phone (0212) 444 00 78 for detailed information.

Tracking down hotspots
Around town, there are a handful of official WiFi hotspots. Some areas are clearly marked as WiFi spots with bright red stickers while other areas require additional investigation and tracking down of the actual base station. Information on where to find a hotspot can be accessed at www.wi-fihotspotlist.com and includes the following wireless locations: Akmerkez Shopping Mall, Nispetiye Caddesi, Etiler // Atatürk International Airport, Yeşilköy // İstiklal Caddesi, Beyoğlu // Hyatt Regency Istanbul, Taşkışla Caddesi 1 Taksim. (0212) 368 12 34 // Metrocity Shopping Mall, Büyükdere Caddesi, 1. Levent // Bebek Kahve, Cevdet Paşa Caddesi (next to McDonald’s), Bebek. (0212) 257 54 02 // Gloria Jeans, Cevdet Paşa Caddesi 87, Bebek. (0212) 245 80 10 & İstiklal Caddesi 280, Galatasaray. (0212) 263 24 45 // House Café, Atiye Sokak 10/1, Teşvikiye. (0212) 259 23 77 // Parkorman, Maslak.