You’ve come to the right place, friend. The research is in, and if you’re looking for an internet router above the rest, read on. Yes, it seems odd that one would be so inclined as to consider options when shopping for a router; but believe it or not, getting the appropriate router for your web network is essential to clean and easy surfing from computer to computer. You’d be surprised at how important it is–especially when your son or daughter whine and cry about how slow their connections are!

So here’s the list compiled by research on some of the best routers to date. Pay close attention:

Cisco Valet Plus

Clean and easy and pretty close to the mobile network competitors as far as quality. At only $80 to $150 for a router, if you’re interested in robust browsing within a network of computers, the money would be worth it.

DIR-615 Wireless N Router

With a price ranging from $35 to $90, the router is affordable and a good entry-level hit for the network’s needs.

Netgear WNDR3700 RangeMax Dual Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router (Premium Edition)

It’s a pretty fancy name. And rightly so. It’s a great dual-band router, which is advanced and designed for multi-com networks. Not to mention it brings storage to the table, which for many network enthusiasts is like candy on Halloween. Insanely expensive, though.

Verizon Wireless MiFi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot

The only downside is the service plan of one of the greatest mobile networks known to man. But you can’t beat the quality of the Verizon Wireless Network.

Novatel Wireless MiFi 2200 (Sprint)

Likewise, getting past the service plan is a must if you’ll benefit from any mobile service routers; and Sprint is no slouch on that. Primetime efficiency and speed from another high-quality mobile internet service.

A relatively new concept is that of the wireless hotspot.  A hotspot is a place, generally a business, that offers an open wireless internet connection.  Businesses began offering wireless hotspots as laptop computers with wireless routers became commonplace.  In today’s society, some businesses are expected to offer wireless hotspots.

Businesses feel that they may be able to attract new customers if they offer Internet access.  This works out best for those that can continue to make money off of the customer who lingers.  Coffee shops were the first business that really made this idea take off.  There are many folks who telecommute or work outside the standard office setting who are able to get out of their home and get some of their work done because of these wireless hotspots.

Now the wireless hotspot concept has spread nearly everywhere.  Computer users can often access the internet not only at coffee shops but at hotels, airports, restaurants, bars, and many other places quickly and easily.  This makes life much easier for those that work outside of the normal office setting, students, and those who simply enjoy browsing the Internet while they are out and about.

For the computer user, it is often very simple to connect to the hotspot.  The computer will automatically look for the wireless connection and, if the place of business has made it an open connection, it can log on and get started.   The owner of the hotspot can choose to make it a secure connection and require a password to access.  This may be required if the business is in an area where the hotspot could easily be accessed by those living or working nearby.  Having the password required for access will assure that only their customers are able to use the wireless connection, and it also keeps the connection from becoming overused and unstable.

The term internet access refers to the way in which users connect to the internet. Some common ways users connect to the internet include fiber to the home, broadband over power lines, cell phones, satellite, WiMAX, Wi-Fi, leased line, cable internet access, ADSL, and dial-up which includes ISDN.

Around the turn of the century, much of the access from residential places was through dial up while most access that was from businesses was typically accessed through broadband Internet. There has been a tremendous decline in dial up in recent years.

There are ways to access the internet from a residence, but there are also public places to gain access to the internet which includes internet cafes and libraries where there are computers with internet access. There are libraries that have stations with resources in order to hook up to laptops that are public owned or you can connect to LANs also known as local area networks.

Some public places also have wireless internet access points, such as in airports and in many instances this is just for a quick use while an individual is standing around waiting. Coin-operated computers can be also be provided with these access points. There are venues such as coffee shops that offer wireless connections to computer networks which are known as hotspots where a prospective user is required to bring their own wireless device such as a PDA or a laptop. These services can be fee based, free to customers only, or they may be free to everyone.

Hotspots are not confined to one location. Enabling can be for entire parks, campuses and even cities. There have been many efforts that has led to what is known as wireless community networks which are also known as wireless community projects and are organizations that try to take what is known as grassroots paths in providing a reliable alternative to municipal wireless networks for customers.

How many times have you gone onto the Internet to do something, and then look up to realize that an hour has flown past? A lot of people have this problem, so if you are one of them, here are some of the biggest time wasters that you should avoid.

• Portals – One of the biggest time wasters that people spend time on is portals, which is sites such as Yahoo, MSN, and Lycos. These sites have a lot of great information, but you often have a lot of stuff to wade through before you find it.
• Mailing lists – The second time waster that people have fallen into are mailing lists. These are found at Yahoo Groups and, although there’s a lot of good information on the lists, there is also a lot of unrelated stuff too.
• Metasearch Engines – The third time waster that people often get trapped in are sites such as Dogpile and AskJeeves. Although it may seem like they are going to save you time because they look through different search sites, the searches often will take a longer time and will often produce results that are useless.
• Instant Messagers – The final thing that people use that can use up a lot of time is instant messaging. It’s something that can save time, since you are going to get an instant answer as opposed to an email. However, you can also get drawn into a conversation that goes longer than expected, which won’t happen with email.

If you discover that you are spending too much time online, then chances are that you are using one of these items. Think about what you do and how much time you are spending online, and think about what it is that you really need to get done and do it.