Articles on Wireless | Topic: wireless
by Faye Deleon
What is Wireless Networking?
Wireless networking is just what it sounds like -- a way of creating networks without any wires! If this sounds exciting to you, then read on.
With a wireless network, you can create radio connections between computers that let them communicate and connect to the Internet without you having to go to all the trouble of connecting them with wires. The computers don't even need to have a clear path for the signal, as the wireless signal can go through walls and between floors easily.
Where Did It Come From?
The story of wireless networking is a rather strange one. It is basically an application of a technology called frequency hopping which was, believe it or not, invented by the actress Hedy Lamarr and a musician named George Antheil, back in the 1940s. Seriously, do a web search -- I promise I'm not pulling your leg here.
They received a patent for their invention, which was intended to help in the war effort. Hedy was Jewish, but had been made to hide it and socialise with Hitler as a young woman -- she had to drug her husband and run away to London to escape her native Austria. The importance of what they'd done, however, wasn't recognised until many years later.
The U.S. military adopted the technique in the '60s, using it during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Hedy never saw any money from it as the patent had expired (don't worry, she was a film star!), but she was given a Pioneer Award by the Electronic Frontier Foundation in 1997, three years before her death.
Wireless at Home.
When most people talk about wireless networks, they are talking about wireless LANs (local area networks). A local area network doesn't mean that it covers your whole neighbourhood -- the 'local area' in question can be only one building, such as your house. So if you want wireless networking in your home, you want a wireless LAN.
Once people have wireless in their home, they always seem to act as if there's been an absolute miracle. After years of drilling holes in the walls and running wires all over the place, suddenly seeing them gone is really amazing.
| Bit of History |
The soul knows only the soul; the web of events is the flowing robe in which she is clothed.
| —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) |
|
|
The Myths.
Wireless networking is expensive. Well, wireless networking used to be expensive when it was new, but now the prices have come way down thanks to competition and mass production. There are hundreds of manufacturers of wireless equipment, with something for every budget. Your costs will depend on how many computers you want to connect and how far apart they are, but a typical family should still be able to do it for less than $100 overall. If you're willing to leave one of the computers on whenever you're using the other one, you could do it for as little as $20! Best of all, once you've spend the money, there's nothing more to pay after that.
Wireless networking is hard. Again, this myth is a holdover from the early days of wireless. It used to be very difficult, with you needing to fiddle endlessly with the configuration on each computer just to get the simplest things to work. Now, though, Windows supports wireless out of the box, and setting it up is easier than ever. You can usually plug in what you've bought, put the CD in the computer and then sit back and watch it all work perfectly!
Wireless networking is insecure. You might think it's dangerous to have all your personal data floating around in the air for anyone to read. Well, if you want, it's dead easy to enable encryption for your wireless signals. It's already difficult for outsiders to intercept wireless signals at all, and they certainly won't be able to decode them as well.
Not Just at Home.
It was home users that were quickest to adopt wireless technology, willing to pay any amount to finally be free of needing to run wires all over their house. Since then, though, the technology has started to spread to offices, universities, and all sorts of other places.
Chains of coffee shops and cafes have found that their customers will stay for hours if they offer wireless Internet access, and it's also becoming more common in hotels and airports. This means that once you set up a laptop for wireless, it becomes far more portable than it ever was before.
|
We strive to provide
only high quality articles on our website. If
there is a specific angle on wireless that you would like us to cover, please contact us here.
Please note: All personal opinions expressed in the "What is Wireless Networking?" article belong to the contributing author and are not necessarily shared by WebDesignConferencing.com. |
Long Term SEO Maintenance Tips
By Priscilla Haynes
Long Term SEO Maintenance Tips. Long-term SEO maintenance requires dedication to your website....
An eBay Seller's Checklist
By Effie Dodson
An eBay Seller's Checklist. Being a seller is a lot of responsibility, and sometimes you might feel like you're not doing everything you should be....
So you want to sell Bluetooth?
By Mickey Freeman
So you want to sell Bluetooth? Maybe you've seen Bluetooth technology on a show somewhere, or maybe you heard about it from a friend, or maybe the guys from research finally came up with a good idea – whatever the reason, you want to sell Bluetooth. You know all the information behind Bluetooth technology – how it's globally available, very simple to use, has increased security, and is also completely cost effective and low power, you just don't know where to look to find information about selling Bluetooth....
Why You Should Stick to Design Conventions
By Walter Robertson
Why You Should Stick to Design Conventions. A mistake often made by people who are new to web design is thinking that they shouldn't pay any attention to what has come before: they're going to design a website the way they think one should work....
Four Things That Make Bluetooth Above The Rest
By Quinn
Four Things That Make Bluetooth Above The Rest Bluetooth offers the most up-to-date services in short-range wireless technologies. While there are many industrial companies out there trying to give the consumer more bang for the buck, Bluetooth surpasses the majority in all it has to offer....
|
