Wireless to Shake Up Telecom World

Associated Press ^ | Sunday, August 11, 2002 | MATTHEW FORDAHL

[umgud]

I need cheap reliable connectivty. I am too connected and spending too much money! Between work, travel and home, I have 2 cell phones, High speed cable internet at home and DSL at work and AOL for travel. I have 2 phone lines at home and cable TV. Oh, I have a pager too. When am I going to see an economical alternative to all this connectivity madness?

[Dog Gone]

According to this article, it won't be long. It seems as if the internet is about to become like free broadcast radio, and there's nothing the AOL Time-Warners can do about it.

[irv]

A group in London has even proposed marking hotspots with chalk.

Crackers are already doing this. Most wireless networks have virtually no security. You may be sharing your connection without even knowing it.

[unixfox]

The genie is out of the bottle. AGAIN.

[socal_parrot]

I have a wireless router with three PCs and a laptop connected. The listed maximum range is 1500 ft. unobstructed and 500 ft. through walls. With a couple of well placed access points, I could hook-up my whole neighborhood.

[Dog Gone]

Security is available for wireless networks. Some people who install them don't bother to enable it, I guess because they are morons.

It's like leaving your wallet on a park bench and assuming that nobody will touch it.

[usconservative]

Hate to say this, but I've been doing it for the last two years!

I have Sprint Wireless Broadband for my internet. A simple antenna on the roof, generate a key (for security) and I can light up any one of my neighbors (144 homes in total) on the internet and collect $20 from each of 'em. They pay for their wireless cards and a small antenna that I build and blammo! They're on the 'net at faster speeds than dialup.

Works great, they love it, and no more crappy cable modem. Their total investment is $90 or so for their own wireless card, I replace the wireless antenna (on the back of the card) with a coax connection and small 18" antenna that clips onto the gutter of their house. They're on the 'net in less than an hour. I use DHCP & NAT for all the IP addresses, they get their own webmail accounts through hotmail or yahoo and they're happy.

[Dark Wing]

ping

[GregB]

I would like to get on wireless and get rid of my Verizon addiction. Where can I get this Sprint Wireless? I feel the need for speed.......

[Free the USA]

Index Bump

[Semper911]

I can light up any one of my neighbors (144 homes in total) on the internet and collect $20 from each of 'em.

Is that $20 a month, or just $20? How much does the Sprint Wireless run you?

What is your motivation for this neighborhood service? Profit, or are you just a good neighbor?

[usconservative]

$20/month.

And Profit is always a motivation. I'm a good capitalist, ya know. :)

[Semper911]

I wish I lived in your neighborhood. I would gladly pay you each month. I get sick each time I write a check for my cable Internet service. I would do anything to break free of ATT Broadband.

How much does that Sprint Wireless run you?

[Glenn]

I get sick each time I write a check for my cable Internet service.

That kills me. The fifty or sixty bucks a months is a steal. Everyone wants something for nothing. Just how much do you think high speed Internet service should cost? Or should it be free like the roads you drive on?

[usconservative]

I pay $49.95/month. My download speeds average 6-8mb/second which means my downloads run 350-550kb/second which ain't shabby. The upload speed is locked at 256k, but who uploads anyway?

[usconservative]

BTW: as soon as the wife gets home, and tells me where she hides the digital camera, I'll take a pic of the setup I have on the roof and post it.

[RightOnline]

I recently set up a wireless network here in my home; a workstation (PC on steroids) and three laptops......connected via a WAP (wireless access point) connected to a router (workstation and WAP connected directly to the router); in turn connected to my high-speed Internet connection. Notice there's no DSL or cable modem in this mix; this is due to the nature of Sprint's (they're our local telephone service provider) high speed access. Where I live, we have fiber to the curb. To use Sprint's FastConnect service, they merely run some Cat 5 cable, hook up a RJ45 jack in your house, and voila. You're just a node on their network (actually, for the bit heads, they're just hooking you up directly to a DHCP server). Always on, no modem, no phone line, etc. etc.

Anyway, that has nothing to do with wireless. :) The wireless network is wonderful, and if/when we move from here, the whole network comes along.........no wires, jacks, etc.,etc.

I SERIOUSLY considered jumping to 802.11a (offering 54 megabit vs. 802.11b's 11 megabit data rates), but it's still more than a bit pricey. However, that will change over the next year or so.

For the record, I tried one of D-Link's new routers that uses 802.11b but claims speeds up to 22 megabit..........but don't get it (the 614+). NICE unit, mind you, and my current router is also a D Link and I love it..........BUT, the 614+ will NOT allow you to access a VPN. Serious bug there. If you're like me and need to access your company's VPN (virtual private network for the uninitiated), especially from one of the wireless nodes in your home network, fuhgeddaboutit. Won't happen.

Anyway..............do it, folks. Wireless is THE way to go. :)

[Dog Gone]

I haven't gone to wireless yet for home networking for two reasons. (I do understand the difference between wireless internet connections and wireless network connections which is the subject of this news article, BTW.)

The first reason is security. While I understand that it can be enabled so that your neighbor doesn't tune into your C Drive, I'm not sufficiently satisfied that it's secure. I probably need to read more, and that would take care of that objection.

The second reason is that I understand that wireless connections are not as fast as wired connections. That doesn't make any difference for most tasks on a home network, but it does make a difference if your teenage son uses the internet for gaming, and he's getting a lag on his machine in the other room.

[Semper911]

I get sick each time I write a check for my cable Internet service. That kills me. The fifty or sixty bucks a months is a steal. Everyone wants something for nothing.

Step off, Glenn. I should have been more clear about my beef with the cable company. They are the worst for customer service, and they raise their rates whenever they damn well please. There is no other cable company to compete with them, and they own this town.

There is no DSL available in my neighborhood, and for TV, a dish is out of the question because of line-of-sight issues. I hate writing them a check because they are the only game in town for me, and I wish I had some free market choice in the matter.

Just how much do you think high speed Internet service should cost? Or should it be free like the roads you drive on?

That's a little over the top, don't you think? What is the point of making these indindiary remarks? Yeah, everything should be free. That's what I said in my post. Uh huh.