Tag: Commentary

Huge surge in wireless use means enterprises need to implement hotspot strategy. Via [vnunet.com]

Last week, we explored the practicalitie of using Wi-Fi in London. As the UK's most populous area, London was always going to play host to some of the nation's first public Internet access hotspots. But wireless is all about mobility, and its value is severely limited if you can't get an Internet connection when you're...

Watching football on TV doesn't cut it anymore for John Furrier and his son, Alec, 8. Broadcasters can't spew enough statistics to satisfy the two. So the Furriers rely on a laptop with wireless Internet, called Wi-Fi, to get the latest data from the living room couch while watching the game. Via [usatoday.com]

It won't achieve the status it deserves until it overcomes several obstacles -- some doozies -- now keeping it stuck in a techno-limbo. Via [businessweek.com]

SBC Chief Technology Officer Ross Ireland says the DSL giant is working on ways to switch seamlessly between Wi-Fi and cellular service. Via [businessweek.com]

Wireless technologies have spread quickly in recent years and are now widely deployed in corporate environments as well as at home. The human dependency on those technologies has increased to the point where one can find wireless devices almost everywhere, from network devices to laptops, cameras, and so on. Via [securityfocus.com]

The expected sale of AT&T Wireless for $35 billion may be a brilliant maneuver for the phone company, as new technologies may make cellular phones obsolete. Via [newsmax.com]

The convenience of wireless access typically comes with a high price tag. But that's changing. Some airports and hotels have begun installing 802.11 Wi-Fi networks and letting travelers use them for free. Via [informationweek.com]

Wi-Fi Internet access may sound like the best thing since sliced bread, but does it yet make mobile working a reality? The Reg went wireless to find out. Here, Nico Macdonald checks out the UK capital's hotspot scene. Next week, we take a trip out of town. Via [theregister.co.uk]

Many wireless protocols are open to "man-in-the middle" attacks which could allow the voting results to be changed by an intruder pretending to be a voting machine. Recently we have seen that the part of 802.1x, the replacement for WEP was vulnerable to this kind of an attack if not properly implemented.

In the wake of President Bush's recent call for a manned Mars mission, we may someday see astronauts walking on the red planet. And, thanks to some new technology NASA has been testing, it's quite likely those space explorers may be carting around Wi-Fi-enabled PCs. Via [wired.com]

Despite all the press and the hype, I believe that 802.11 is remarkably underhyped, relative to the massive impact this seemingly simple standard will eventually have on the entire wireless communications sector. Via [zdnet.com.com]

Will we see the economics of the cellular industry appear in the fast growing national WiFi HotSpot expansion? If so, when?

"FREE WI-FI IS HERE," proclaims the banner atop the Rusty Pelican in Wallingford. Below, in tiny type, is the caveat, "While dining." Via [seattletimes.nwsource.com]

Calling ultrawideband technology "the next frontier of wireless," Matthew Shoemake is leaving his post as chair of the nascent IEEE 802.11n high-rate wireless LAN task group to head the latest UWB startup, WiQuest. Via [commsdesign.com]