Ten miles outside of Indianapolis, I learned one more in a series of tech lessons garnered during a recent, 15-day road trip: The Wi- Fi revolution has begun.

Actually, I had sensed it earlier, in Highland, Ill., where the Blue Springs Cafe, noted for its "foot-high pies" with huge meringue tops, greeted visitors with news that it was a wireless "hot spot."

But most people head to that eatery for a meal, not for e-mail. Hotels are another matter entirely.

The Comfort Inn in Plainfield, a franchise outpost of the Choice Hotels empire, offers free, high-speed Internet in all its rooms; some are wireless and soon, a clerk asserted, all will be.

The same free Internet, usually wireless, can be found at the Pear Tree Inn of Terre Haute, on the other side of Indiana, and at its sister Drury Inns, the Holiday Inn Express chain and a raft of others, including Sleep Inn, another brand of Silver Spring-based Choice Hotels.

This is a welcome change from two or three years ago, when high- speed Internet was a $10-per-day add-on. Wireless service was found in some rooms, but, again, at a price.

Having wireless access, or at least high-speed service, is a blessing that keeps business travelers (and other wired types) in touch with the world.

Now, if you have wireless capability in your room, it's likely to support more than one computer. But if your high-speed connection is via an Ethernet cable, then a product such as Netgear's WGR101 Wireless Travel Router, an $80 product available online and at many retailers, might be the thing for you. Set it up in "multiuser" mode and you and your traveling companion can share that Ethernet connection. Or you can just have the freedom to move around the room and work where it's comfortable.

I haven't tested this Netgear product yet, but I like the concept. Similar units are available from wireless gear makers D- Link and SMC. All support the 802.11g standard, which is one of the faster speeds around, though not the fastest.

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