First experience with a lap top comp., need some tips.

[DaFace]

If you're referring to using a neighbor's unsecured connection as "piggybacking," it's technically illegal. However, the chances of that ever coming back to bite you are incredibly small. A more likely possibility is that they eventually wise up and secure the network or move away, leaving you without internet access all the sudden. I wouldn't do it because I like to have control over my connection, and I like having a pretty high speed, but it's your choice.

No, there's not really any way to boost the signal. At least not on your end.

Cell phone ISP's work fine and are, of course, incredibly portable. The speeds you'll get on such a connection, however, are pretty slow by today's standards. I can't tell you exactly what you'd get, but a base-level cable or DSL connection would be 1.5 Mbps, while I've only seen speeds about one-third of that on a cell connection. It still works fine for browsing. Stuff like youtube videos will work, but will be slower to load. Stuff like gaming and watching full movies online through Netflix and the like is probably a no-go.

Hope that helps.