It is quite simple to "open up" the 802.11b wireless network to all and sundry. You just turn off passwords and encryption, set up the base station with a DHCP server to give out IPs (probably set a low lease time to allow for frequent comings and goings), and put the transceiver antenna in the front window of the house/store/wherever (or even better, a high gain antenna on the rooftop! :-) Now everyone within range can jack in via your open network.

The transceiver (i.e. base station) sends and receives radio signals on which are carried the data from the network. The ethernet (or other Internet connection) is connected with a wire/cable to the base station. The base station acts as the go-between between the wireless network and the wired network. Once you are on the wired side it works just like all our other Internet connections.

This has been your Network 101 primer for today. Come back next week when our lesson will be "69 ways to hose your router". ;-)