I'm curious why people think that 'dongle' is one thing. 'Dongle' is a general term for any device that plugs into a socket. Dongle = Thing. Generic term.
USB internet dongle could erroneously be 802.11a - 802.11b - 802.11n - CDMA - GSM - 3g - and a few other possibilities.
Technically, there is absolutely no such thing as an INTERNET DONGLE. There is also no such thing as a Ham and Cheese Subwoofer. If I said I had one of those subwoofers, I'd be a moron. Anyone who says they have an internet dongle ...
I really wish people would say WHICH type of dongle they are plugging into their USB. At least then the rest of us would have some clue what people are mistaken about.
Just a bad but valid example: If I were to plug my cable modem into my USB instead of my ethernet, my Motorola modem would be a USB dongle (a cable dongle). As it is now, it's an ethernet dongle. But not because it is internet. It's a dongle because it has security features.
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Computing Dictionary
dongle definition
hardware
/dong'gl/ (From "dangle" - because it dangles off the computer?)
1. A security or
copy protection device for commercial
microcomputer programs that must be connected to an
I/O port of the computer while the program is run. Programs that use a dongle query the port at start-up and at programmed intervals thereafter, and terminate if it does not respond with the expected validation code.
One common form consisted of a serialised
EPROM and some drivers in a
D-25 connector shell.
Dongles attempt to combat
software theft by ensuring that, while users can still make copies of the program (e.g. for
backup), they must buy one dongle for each simultaneous use of the program.
The idea was clever, but initially unpopular with users who disliked tying up a port this way. By 1993 almost all dongles passed data through transparently while monitoring for their particular
magic codes (and combinations of status lines) with minimal if any interference with devices further down the line. This innovation was necessary to allow
daisy-chained dongles for multiple pieces of software.
In 1998, dongles and other copy protection systems are fairly uncommon for
Microsoft Windows software but one engineer in a print and
CADD bureau reports that their
Macintosh computers typically run seven dongles: After Effects, Electric Image, two for Media 100, Ultimatte, Elastic Reality and CADD. These dongles are made for the Mac's daisy-chainable
ADB port.
The term is used, by extension, for any physical electronic key or transferable ID required for a program to function. Common variations on this theme have used the
parallel port or even the
joystick port or a
dongle-disk.
An early 1992 advertisment from Rainbow Technologies (a manufacturer of dongles) claimed that the word derived from "Don Gall", the alleged inventor of the device. The company's receptionist however said that the story was a myth invented for the ad.
[
Jargon File]
(1998-12-13)
2. A small adaptor cable that connects, e.g. a
PCMCIA modem to a telephone socket or a PCMCIA
network card to an
RJ45 network cable.
(2002-09-29)
Quote:
Originally Posted by stickmade  I use multiple computers because i'm so paranoid about ebay & the way the can track you. And by dongle i mean USB INTERNET DONGLE. I guess everybody dose things their own why |
How many PCs do you use? 
