A new study has determined that baby monitors, microwaves and wireless television transmitters have the effect of jamming and slowing down wireless Internet access. In fact the study, conducted by Mass Consulting, found that baby monitors, wireless audio and video transmitters, and microwaves are the primary cause of wireless interference and access issues, not people using excessive amounts of bandwidth as previously thought.

It’s still winter break in Boulder, and so most of the independent coffee shops in Boulder are closing early until school is back in session. As a result, I found myself all dressed up and with nowhere to go to sit and work over a cup of joe last night. In desperation, I turned to the local Starbucks – even they were closing early, but not as early as the other coffee shops. And besides, I was curious to try Starbuck’s free wifi.

A new hotel network security study by Cornell University entitled “Hotel Network Security: A Study of Computer Networks in U.S. Hotels” has proven that using the wireless Internet – and even cabled Internet – at your hotel is almost always inherently insecure and unsafe.

Are you “waiting for Time Capsule to restart” while you are trying to set up Time Capsule to add itself to your existing wireless network, only to find that Time Capsule never does restart? And then, when you hit “rescan” it can’t find the Apple Time Capsule at all, even though it had just found it moments before? Here’s what to do.

Automobile maker Chrysler is said to be ready to announce its mobile broadband wifi service known as the Chrysler UConnect Web System, which is slated to be included with certain models of Chrysler car for the upcoming model year. With the Crysler UConnect Web Service your car is, in essence, a portable wifi hotspot.

DVD rental service Netflix has released the first in a planned family of direct-to-TV streaming devices. Made by Roku, the Netflix Player set-top box connects wired or wirelessly between your home broadband internet connection and a TV, instantly streaming one of the 10,000 available movies and TV shows you’ve added to your Netflix “Instant Queue”.

If you are among the legion of annoyed laptop toters who felt that the price to use T-mobile wi-fi at Starbucks was outrageous – particularly when there are so many coffee shops offering free w-ifi (and better coffee) these days – well, apparently Starbucks agrees with you. Because Starbucks and AT&T have just announced that Starbucks has jumped ship from Tmobile, and is now going to be offering AT&T wifi in its 7000 locations. And just one drink a month at Starbucks turns it into free wi-fi!

If your Blackberry isn’t working, you’re not alone. Neither is anybody else’s. In fact, Research in Motion (RIM) is experiencing what may be their largest network outage ever, affecting users of their (overly)popular Blackberry device around the world. Reports from the U.S., Canada, and the UK abound.

Quite a few people have by now read about AOL’s new Skyhook “Near Me” buddys plug-in. That’s the plugin for the service which lets you know if any of your buddies are geographically near to you, and puts them in a “Near Me” buddies group. But what far fewer people realize is exactly how it works. How does it know when you are near one of your buddies? The answer may surprise – and concern – you.

Does your computer suffer from embarassing data seepage? Does data seep from your wifi-enabled laptop, telling the world a bit more than you’d intended? The folks at Errata Security say “yes”, and are offering the code for their Ferret program for free. Ferret tells you just exactly what data is seeping from your computer.

Network neutrality, laws requiring dating sites to perform background checks and ISPs to rat out their users, laws banning anonymous posting, and cyber bullying legislation. Is it all part of a move towards a nanny Internet?

Brian Tanner was parked outside his local public library in Palmer, Alaska, using their free wifi, when police confiscated his laptop. It’s true that he was using it to check in on his Internet-based game, Conquer Club (similar to Risk) – but it’s also true that Brian Tanner, who is 21, is a moderator for the Conquer Club portal, and so it’s not a case of some teenager with an Internet game addiction.

Ever had the situation where you are sitting in a Starbucks, or some other Tmobile Hotspot, and you want to use the hotspot network – and your computer can’t find the T-Mobile Hotspot server? I mean, the URL simply doesn’t work and you get an error message from your browser? Well, here’s the work-around.

Avis, the car rental company known for their “We Try Harder” slogan, may want to change that slogan to “We Drive Wired”. You see, Avis is offering wifi in their rental cars.

The new Nintendo Wii may have a funny and hard to remember name (is it the Nintendo Wii? Nintendo Wie? Nintendo Wee? Whee? Oui?), but it has managed to do what no other gamebox has done before – revolutionize game box gaming by incorporating genuine real-gesture remote control. It’s also got built in Internet wi-fi access, and Bluetooth.