Wi-Fi: It's Fast, It's Here -- and It Works

Businessweek ^ | 4/02

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

Far from what tradition might indicate, the wireless Internet isn't turning out to be one of those tech breakthroughs that arrives accompanied by a Microsoft-size marketing campaign and eight-foot-high displays in consumer-electronics stores. Instead, it's a grassroots trend that has moved from research labs, to techie circles, to hobbyists -- and that now, after five years -- is about to reach the general public. Anyone who didn't know broadband (meaning, fast) wireless Internet access is here -- and that it works -- soon will.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

I'm considering adding it here at home, where getting broadband to my sons' rooms upstairs would otherwise involve a big carpentry job.

But I went to Fry's and noticed a preponderance of 802.11b access points and interface cards with return stickers. That tells me these products disappointed many of their buyers. Are they really ready for prime-time?

Incidentally, it seemed that the NetGear stuff had the fewest returned units.

Browsing Fry's shelves for return stickers doesn't constitute a scientific consumer-satisfaction study, but it's been illustrative in the past.

[LarryM]

I have it at home. Works great. Range can be somewhat limited in built-up areas.

[blackbart1]

Sounds great but I wonder if it will work for those of us out in the country. We live out in the High Desert. Could it be? Please let it be.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

fyi

[glorgau]

Amazing. The article mentions Microsoft in the first sentence - who had nothing to do with this "innovation" - and never gets around to mentioning the company that pushed the initial deployment of the technology - Apple.

[Kermit]

Same here in the North Woods. No cable and satellite is just too expensive.

Different question, I saw a tv ad for Emerson "Switchboard", a device where you plug in your PC, telephone and fax lines. If you are on line and get a call, you just switch over to take the call and switch back without losing the connection. Does anyone know about this or other solutions? I have a second line just for the internet and it's costly.

[HeadOn]

Yep. 802.11b is "it" lately. I work for a big corporation and we have lots of little technical devices, both in our facilities, and out in the field with guys who are all over the place, every day.

"Bluetooth" is the trade name of the wireless devices we are specifying. Our offices have nodes in the ceiling for roaming around with laptops or palms, and our field guys use the wireless for communicating between devices. Short range only, though. Not sure how much it would help with cell-phone or internet type applications. Strictly LAN right now.

[Dinsdale]

Whatever you do, don't use this to share a broadband connection with 3 or four neighbors. That would be wrong. ;-)

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

802.11b or WiFi is more or less to computing networks as cordless phones are to regular phones. My point being that just because we have cordless phones in our homes doesn't mean our need for cell phones go away. Sure, there will (eventually) by "hotspots" in airports, starbucks, University Campuses, Coporate Campuses, but I don't think this will replace 2.5G and 3G data services.

[Harrison Bergeron]

"I got a Linksys 4 port router at Fry's $165 after the rebate..."

Man I hope that was a while ago. I bought a LinkSys four port router at CompUSA last Fall and I got it for $12 less than the list price of $79.00 with my company affiliate discount.

[Gorest Gump]

What do y'all think about 802.11a? I hear it is stronger, faster, and more dependable. Also it is not prone to interfere with satellite radio, which is growing. I'm considering an investment in a 802.11a company, and I'd like to hear someone with more techie knowledge comment.

[corkoman]

I got my Linksys 4 port/wireless up and running over the weekend. My kids are stoked and Dad is once again a cool guy. That will last a few more days.

but what they don't know is that I can yank their access any time I want and that'll send them into convulsions!! Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk. Dad rules!! bwahahahahah

[LearnsFromMistakes]

LT probably left off the 'wireless' part. My linksys wireless 4-port was about 180, 4 months ago...way nice when combined with my cable modem.

My stay-at-home/home-school wife couldn't go back to lowly dial-up. She was sick last week. It was pathetic seeing her bed-ridden, laptop(hi-speed wireless, of course) and kleenex was all she would reach...

[Harrison Bergeron]

"LT probably left off the 'wireless' part."

My bad, I should've caught that.

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

What do y'all think about 802.11a?

I use 802.11b EVERY day and my company is a player. I have yet to even SEE 802.11a in action. I can only respond based on what I've read. From what I can tell

1. Expect to see devices that combine both 802.11a and 802.11b. 802.11a delivers much higher bandwidth, since 802.11b is 11 Mbps, I think 802.11a is in the 54 Mbps.

2. The disadvantages of 802.11a are going to be cost (especially initially) and more significantly, range. 802.11b allows you to be up to 300 feet from the base station whereas that distance drops to 50 feet for 802.11a. The limited range and the increased bandwidth derives directly from the higher frequences used (just as FM has higher quality but shorter range than AM).

The drivers for 802.11a are going to be bandwidth hungry applications (read video) or dense user populations (as the available bandwidth is shared unlike switched ethernet where the bandwidth is dedicated).

[lwd]

Larry, maybe you could tell us about the speed, what type of upload speed do you normally get when sending a file to someone else?

[Rifleman]

I am posting this via a 802.11b network that my public library is using (I do their IT stuff) in place of some messy cabling. We are also looking at providing public access internet via wifi. If you can get an antenna up, anyone with a line of sight and who can run a soldiering iron can make a connection out to a couple of miles.

As to performance, this wireless net is faster thant the ethernet in the building. It is very lightly loaded though.