OK, so say there's an eBay auction for a pair of alligator Beatle boots that you simply must have, but the auction closing interferes with the time you normally feed the ducks by the river.

In the old world, you would have had to choose: boots or ducks.

But this is the 21st century, an age when it is possible to get a high-speed laptop connection while sitting on a bench by the Snake River.

As you slip those super-bad boots on your feet, you can thank Teton Wireless and the Eastern Idaho Economic Development Council, which have teamed up to put high-speed wireless - "Wi-Fi" - equipment on top of the Bonneville County Courthouse and the Snake Bite Restaurant.

The equipment on top of the Snake Bite, at the corner of Park Avenue and A Street, went live Tuesday morning. The equipment at the courthouse should be ready by Friday.

"We thought it would be something fun and would provide an additional benefit to the local traffic," said Kipp Hicks, the council's executive director.

Eastern Idaho Technical College's Computer Networking Technology Program has been providing student trainees to assist with setup and maintenance. Once everything's running, you'll be able to go online on the greenbelt, in the "pocket park" at Park and B streets and even at Great Harvest Bread or Geraldine's Bakery.

Similar "hotspots" exist at the Idaho Falls Regional Airport, where people can work on their laptops and uplink their work to wherever it needs to go, and on the west bank of the river at The Bistro off Broadway.

The latest laptops are equipped with 802.11 cards, which allow users to get online whenever they are in a hotspot.

"Usually within two or three clicks you're online," said Donna Nims, Teton Wireless' marketing director.

If a laptop has a slot for a wireless network card, enough memory and the proper software, it's just as easy to get up and running.

These cards are not that expensive, but to help his customers, Snake Bite owner Todd Thoulion plans to have a few on hand to help anyone who might want to have a latte while downloading the latest stock quotes or e-mailing a close friend in Hong Kong.

Teton Wireless is absorbing the cost of the transceivers and installation, while the council is paying for the router and access at each location.

Nims said they are hoping to get some name recognition for their company, which serves more than 25,000 customers from Twin Falls to Missoula, Mont., and show people how easy it is to get a high-speed wireless connection.

Staff writer Paul Menser can be reached at 542-6752.