Connecting a laptop to the net - anywhere

Factual Questions
1

Remember the commercials that had people net surfing from such unlikely places as the beach? What is that you need to do this? I assume there are special peripherals and subscriptions. One of the field reps at work would love to be able to connect on his computer from clients’ houses.

Thanks.

2

Cellular connection, Verizon has a high speed PC card, that will opperate on their cell service at speeds of 144 kb/s max, and usually about 60kb/s sustained. IIRC service for unlimited use is about $70/month