The crowds of people gathering at the nation's capital to witness the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States will undoubtedly want to share this historic moment with all their friends and family. The trick will be getting a wireless connection.

Cellular service providers have been preparing for the expected flood of cellphone calls in Washington D.C. by bolstering network capacity, adding more wireless channels, and even rolling in mobile communications trucks—much like the ones used in Houston after Hurricane Ike. But with an anticipated record-breaking demand for service, even subscribers to the top-rated wireless service (available to subscribers) may have difficulties in being heard over a cellular network.

If you're in the nation's capital today, here are some tips to avoiding wireless frustrations:

• Use text messaging. Short bursts of text have better chances of reaching your intended recipients since SMS requires less bandwidth than other wireless connections.
• Take pictures, but send them later. Use your cell phone's built-in digital camera to capture the moment in images—or even videos. But wait until you get back to your computer with a solid Net connection before you bother sending them to your friends or post them on a blog or photo-sharing site like Flickr.
• Enjoy the moment. Sure, you want to share with (or brag to) others about "being there" and taking part in American history. But take the time to actually listen and experience what is going on around you. The last thing you want to tell your kids and/or grandkids is that the most outstanding memory you had of this momentous day was the frustration in trying to reach Aunt Flo on her cell phone.