As I sat here thinking about a topic for my next article, it occurred to me that I was actually taking advantage of an incredible technology while simply sitting on my couch—namely, wireless internet access. Laptop users are well aware of the benefits of wireless technology, which is often referred to as Wi-Fi, because it is the easiest way to get internet access while away from home. Wi-Fi is now a standard feature in many venues, coffee houses especially, and is usually offered for free. We’re also beginning to see other devices that can take advantage of Wi-Fi, i.e., the Sony PSP and the Nintendo DS.Given its massive consumer acceptance, I’m certain that the proliferation of Wi-Fi will open up a world of possibilities for our relationship with technology. Not only will it offer us internet access practically anywhere, it will also become a ubiquitous method for our consumer devices to communicate with one another. We’re already beginning to see this today with wireless digital cameras that can easily transfer files to computers and print to wireless printers directly. It’s also the method that the PSP and Nintendo DS use for multiplayer communication.
Over the next few decades we’re going to see even more devices taking advantage of wireless, in progressively more unique ways. For a good intellectual exercise, just try and imagine the possible functionality of refrigerators and microwaves with wireless. What if your refrigerator could track all of the items inside of it, and make those nutritional statistics available to you. Imagine downloading recipes onto your microwave to make the perfect meal without a stove. The functional possibilities will only be limited by our imagination.
Before we achieve this wireless utopia, however, we must overcome the issues currently facing Wi-Fi technology: speed and reception. The most common type of Wi-Fi network uses the “802.11b” standard, which technically offers a theoretical maximum speed of 11Mbps and range of about 30m indoors. In real world usage, the fastest speed you’ll get from this sort of network is about 6Mbps, about the maximum capacity of your typical cable modem. The range also varies depending on the placement of the wireless access point, and the architecture and radio interference near its location. The “802.11b” standard was made popular 5-6 years ago because it was the first wireless technology to offer decent speeds and reception, and it remains the most prevalent type of Wi-Fi network.
While popular, “802.11b” is not without its flaws. The standard runs at the 2.4Ghz frequency, which is crowded with other household devices like microwaves and cordless phones. Because of this, it is especially prone to radio interference. Simply put, it was an incredible technology back in 2000, but wireless users expect more now that the internet is mainstream. I’ve found that non-technical users are incredibly frustrated by the unpredictability of wireless reception, they just want it to work. In the end, it seems like “802.11b” needs a significant upgrade.
In 2003 a new wireless standard was created, dubbed “802.11g”, which offered a hypothetical maximum speed of 54Mbps, which is significantly reduced to about 36Mbps in real world usage. The “G” standard was mainly a speed upgrade, as it fell victim to the same reception issues that plagued “B” devices. Even worse, the promised extra speed was reduced to “802.11b” levels if someone connected a “B” wireless card to a natively “G” network. The ubiquity of “B” cards among the consumer population made “G” networks no better than their predecessor. For this reason, you’ll probably rarely get any “G” level speeds on our campus wireless network, and the same is true for any public “G” network.
So “G” was a bust, but don’t give up hope just yet. An up and coming wireless standard, “802.11n”, promises to relieve of us of our current wireless woes. With a supposed speed of around 600Mbps, and significantly more range than “B” or “G”, “802.11n” will be our first step to truly ubiquitous wireless coverage. Its developer’s boast that you may even be able to share your internet connection over several city blocks with just one access point. “802.11n” is scheduled to make its debut sometime in 2007, and I will be waiting, microwave in tow.
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Amherst Bytes #19: Without Wires
As I sat here thinking about a topic for my next article, it occurred to me that I was actually taking advantage of an incredible technology while simply sitting on my couch—namely, wireless internet access. Laptop users are well aware of the benefits of wireless technology, which is often referred to as Wi-Fi, because it is the easiest way to get internet access while away from home. Wi-Fi is now a standard feature in many venues, coffee houses especially, and is usually offered for free. We’re also beginning to see other devices that can take advantage of Wi-Fi, i.e., the Sony PSP and the Nintendo DS.Given its massive consumer acceptance, I’m certain that the proliferation of Wi-Fi will open up a world of possibilities for our relationship with technology. Not only will it offer us internet access practically anywhere, it will also become a ubiquitous method for our consumer devices to communicate with one another. We’re already beginning to see this today with wireless digital cameras that can easily transfer files to computers and print to wireless printers directly. It’s also the method that the PSP and Nintendo DS use for multiplayer communication.
Over the next few decades we’re going to see even more devices taking advantage of wireless, in progressively more unique ways. For a good intellectual exercise, just try and imagine the possible functionality of refrigerators and microwaves with wireless. What if your refrigerator could track all of the items inside of it, and make those nutritional statistics available to you. Imagine downloading recipes onto your microwave to make the perfect meal without a stove. The functional possibilities will only be limited by our imagination.
Before we achieve this wireless utopia, however, we must overcome the issues currently facing Wi-Fi technology: speed and reception. The most common type of Wi-Fi network uses the “802.11b” standard, which technically offers a theoretical maximum speed of 11Mbps and range of about 30m indoors. In real world usage, the fastest speed you’ll get from this sort of network is about 6Mbps, about the maximum capacity of your typical cable modem. The range also varies depending on the placement of the wireless access point, and the architecture and radio interference near its location. The “802.11b” standard was made popular 5-6 years ago because it was the first wireless technology to offer decent speeds and reception, and it remains the most prevalent type of Wi-Fi network.
While popular, “802.11b” is not without its flaws. The standard runs at the 2.4Ghz frequency, which is crowded with other household devices like microwaves and cordless phones. Because of this, it is especially prone to radio interference. Simply put, it was an incredible technology back in 2000, but wireless users expect more now that the internet is mainstream. I’ve found that non-technical users are incredibly frustrated by the unpredictability of wireless reception, they just want it to work. In the end, it seems like “802.11b” needs a significant upgrade.
In 2003 a new wireless standard was created, dubbed “802.11g”, which offered a hypothetical maximum speed of 54Mbps, which is significantly reduced to about 36Mbps in real world usage. The “G” standard was mainly a speed upgrade, as it fell victim to the same reception issues that plagued “B” devices. Even worse, the promised extra speed was reduced to “802.11b” levels if someone connected a “B” wireless card to a natively “G” network. The ubiquity of “B” cards among the consumer population made “G” networks no better than their predecessor. For this reason, you’ll probably rarely get any “G” level speeds on our campus wireless network, and the same is true for any public “G” network.
So “G” was a bust, but don’t give up hope just yet. An up and coming wireless standard, “802.11n”, promises to relieve of us of our current wireless woes. With a supposed speed of around 600Mbps, and significantly more range than “B” or “G”, “802.11n” will be our first step to truly ubiquitous wireless coverage. Its developer’s boast that you may even be able to share your internet connection over several city blocks with just one access point. “802.11n” is scheduled to make its debut sometime in 2007, and I will be waiting, microwave in tow.