Wi-Fi: Will It Fly or Will It Die?

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.brighthand.com/article/WiFi_Fly_Or_Die' target='_blank'>http://www.brighthand.com/article/WiFi_Fly_Or_Die</a><br /><br /></div>"Yes, Wi-Fi, or 802.11b wireless networking, is springing up all over these days, from local Starbucks coffee houses to McDonald's restaurants to RV parks. And there are good reasons for its proliferation. First, it utilizes unlicensed radio spectrum, so virtually anyone can set one up anywhere. Second, the hardware is both inexpensive and easy to install, at least when compared to running coaxial cable throughout a building. Third, it's relatively fast, depending on your backhaul method: cable modem, digital subscriber line (DSL), or T1 line. Bottom line, Wi-Fi can provide a near-magical high-speed wireless connection to the world with little time, cost or effort. <br /><br />But there's a cloud lurking behind Wi-Fi's silver lining. For one thing, no one's really discovered how to make money, or even break even, running a high-speed wireless data service -- whether it be proprietary, such as the recently resurrected Ricochet network, or an open standard, like T-Mobile's Wi-Fi Hotspot concept. Also, coverage is far from ubiquitous; in fact, it's downright skimpy. And it's those two issues that are beginning to be attacked by the major telecommunications carriers hoping to sway consumers to its 3G networks for wireless data access outside the home and office."<br /><br />What do you think? Will carrier solutions like 3G prevail, or will WiFi kill the carriers?

[mv]

I vote for 3G!! it can be everywhere, where wifi is not.

[Kaber]

Community WiFi Networks (http://www.toaster.net/wireless/community.html), activate!


I love how the dark cloud is that no one can make money from it. If only we didn't live in the world where only money mattered... if only.

[Ed Hansberry]

I do not understand the whole WiFi vs Cellular thing. It is as senseless as WiFi vs bluetooth. the only ones arguing the latter are BT hardware makers trying desperately to save their business since BT is, right now, a failure. It works for so few people. :(

The only way I see WiFi competing with cellular is when you can throw up WiFi towers nationwide that throw signals for *milel* and sell everyone VoIP devices, and THAT is a fantasy. 3G and 4G will be here before that. WiFi will ultimately be the death of CAT5 cables for clients at houe and the office, but it has as much to offer in the voice/data arena over loooooooooong distances as a Lear Jet has to offer me getting to the grocery store. :roll:

[Kaber]

Ed, read up on the community projects, please. There are wifi links over miles already in some places. Links as far as 27 miles I believe... point to point.

For community projects, 802.11 is great. But I see your point on the long haul.

[that_kid]

I love Wi-Fi and i've been using it since it hit the market but the thing that really made me happy was when I got my sprint 1X card. The reason is that I can go anywhere that sprint has service in and I know that I can get on the net without running netstumbler beforehand :wink: . That said you can setup wifi to act like cellular towers. I have 3 access points setup this way at home and it works great, but once I'm 1000 feet away from my house then it's back to the 1X card until I get to a place I know has wi-fi. Both technologies have their place in the market, I just wish these wifi service providers didn't bill wifi use like cellular.

[ricksfiona]

WiFi may be just a value added service and cheap advertising. With the more available coffee houses, what makes me choose one or the other? Starbucks has WiFi, Pete's does not. Why would I go to Borders over Barnes and Noble? Borders has Wifi, B&N does not.

There are a lot of people who study & work in WiFi equipped places. A celluar connection just won't be as quick enough to satisfy the masses.

True cellular is everyway, but it's slow. Also, I don't need access to my e-mail THAT often. In a pinch, I use my BT phone to do a quick check. But my cell phone is only for those "MUST CHECK E-MAIL" days, and they don't happen often.

To get carriers to upgrade to 3G or whatever they're talking about, it will cost millions. WiFi is cheap and I don't think it should be thought of as a way to make money, but value.

[Will T Smith]

For general business purposes, 3G and stationary wireless is the only bets in town.

Wi-Fi wasn't designed to be metered, nor was it designed to allow roaming. There are other Specs in the works that INCLUDE these capabilities.

As far as community networks go, I'm all for them. Just remember that you need to buy the appropriate bandwidth. Your broadband provider is right to insist that you not resell or "give away" bandwidth. If you want to do that, you need to purchase a different type of connection for internet access.

[Paragon]

I think if you look at WiFi from a cellular providers standpoint it might fly. If they can build networks of WiFi networks :roll: in the highly populated downtown, metro areas to supply data transfers in these areas, it will lighten the load on their cellular networks. This should be a much more cost effective way for them. Once we have Wanda type devices that can handle handoffs to different network types we can have a relatively seemless system that could be faster, and more economical.

Plus, don't you get the feeling that the cellular providers are looking for any excuse not to do the 3G thing. :)

Dave

[Lday]

I love 3G. My new Sprint phone supplied by my employer has unlimited 3G access. I went to Radio Shack and bought the Future Dial Snap Dialer software and cable, hooks up to the USB on my laptop and I'm good to go. Now, if only I could find drivers that worked for my Toshiba E740 expansion pack...

[Ed Hansberry]

Ed, read up on the community projects, please. There are wifi links over miles already in some places. Links as far as 27 miles I believe... point to point.
There are towers that broadcast 802.11b in a 13.5mi radius or there are clusters of towers that, in total, encompass a 13.5mi radius? The latter is not cost efficient at all and will not be a model for future networks.

[Tracy Daubenspeck]

I have been playing around with Wi-Fi at home for about a year. I find it to be a little un-friendly for the most part. I wouldn't want to have to rely on it for all my needs. That being said, I am sitting at my local library connected to this site using Wi-Fi at no cost. The library is the kind of place that this kind of connection make the most sense. Ditto at airports, but the cost is outrageous. I think that for the traveling types something more ubiquitous would be necessary and I don't think 802.11b is it.

[Corn Bread]

I love 3G. My new Sprint phone supplied by my employer has unlimited 3G access.

Correct me if I'm wrong,but the only country that has 3G Cellular Phone technology is Japan. The US and Canada Cellular phone technology is far from being 3G.

[dubStylee]

Community WiFi Networks (http://www.toaster.net/wireless/community.html), activate!


I love how the dark cloud is that no one can make money from it. If only we didn't live in the world where only money mattered... if only.

Right On! Let's ask what use the dang thing is, not who can make money from it. Check out the Portland Telco project, free wifi in the hostel, several coffee shops and the town square.

And public policy counts too. If local wifi communities could piggyback on publicly owned utility polls (which we give for free to the folks who charge us to talk to each other) then we'd see some wifi in action.

[Janak Parekh]

I love 3G. My new Sprint phone supplied by my employer has unlimited 3G access.
Correct me if I'm wrong,but the only country that has 3G Cellular Phone technology is Japan. The US and Canada Cellular phone technology is far from being 3G.
1xRTT CDMA is technically 3G according to the defined terminology, but is more practically 2.5G. The next version, for which field tests are being deployed in select cities in the US (1xEV-DV), is true 3G.

--janak

[ctmagnus]

1xRTT CDMA is technically 3G according to the defined terminology, but is more practically 2.5G. The next version, for which field tests are being deployed in select cities in the US (1xEV-DV), is true 3G.

--janak

The back of my el cheapo Audiovox 8300 has a sticker that says 3G CDMA. I really wish thay hadn't put that there, 'cuz it's my first cell phone and even I knew that 3G wasn't yet available in Canada when I bought it. I hate :evil: marketers and salespeople.

[fudged]

I would have to say that none are near perfect (BT in particular) but they all serve unique purposes. I think for the individual business, offering WiFi access is a great loss leader, getting people through the door on the promise of quck access is a serious concept. The costs are low and the returns, high. I'd buy the coffee just to get the access, buy the book if I can quickly check what others were saying about it, and so on.

There is no argument, it's more of a confusion of what all these options mean. When we finally get that sorted out, there'll be something new to consider. Just as 3G would only lead to xG envy.

In the meantime, fix BT! It makes me nuts trying to make it work (as advertised) even a little reliably.

[bsoft]

Right now, as I type this response on my T-Mobile sidekick (GPRS) as I look up a movie review on my WIFI laptop in Mugs, our local coffee lounge (which has free wifi as long as you buy at least one drink every 2 hours), I wonder: can't there be room for both?

[Zensbikeshop]

Surely 3G, WiFi and BT are all very different technologies with different purposes?

3G = telecoms plus WAN

WiFi = LAN

Bluetooth = PAN

I use Bluetooth alot at home to connect to my desktop nad on the road to connect my PDA to my phone and to a BT headset.

If I had two PCs at home or had a laptop I'd go for a WiFi setup and keep BT for the PDA.

3G is in it's infancy (whether it grows up is another question) but if it takes off with good coverage and affordable charges it will be great. However you might still need BT to connect your PDA to your 3G phone.

Each technology is different and each has it's own use.

To go back to the original question WiFi will not stop 3G.

[Aravind Rao]

3G (2.5G) has proved to be a pipe dream at least in the US with pathetic speeds and real spotty coverage. With the prohibitive cost of setting up 3g networks and ridiculous usage rates, I would say its much economical to set up 802.11b networks (I would say go for 802.11g). Although it may not happen overnight, wi-fi / 3G combo devices can become common place, with a gradual shift towards wi-fi devices, that support VoIP, considering someone will come up with a viable business model, with consumer friendly prices and not the prices charged at airports.

But then again, NTT DoCoMo recently tested 4G technology with theoritical speed of up 100 mbps, capable of streaming HD quality movies :D , which may see the light of day around 2010 time frame. By then we would have a faster version of 802.11 which I am sure will still be cheaper to set up than a brand new 4g network.

Bottom line, ubiquitous 802.11 networks with VoIP devices CAN blow 3g networks out of the water.

[FredMurphy]

Just wait until 802.16 gets thrown into the mix. Even more confusion.

[Lday]

Sprint advertises it as 3G, and it says 3G connection when hooked up. All I know is I really needed some files the other day when I was travelling from Tucson to Phoenix, so I pulled off the freeway, hooked up, and downloaded over 12MB as I drove with no connection drops. I've used it in Yuma, Las Cruces, NM, and El Paso TX. There is no coverage from Tucson east on I-10 until close to Las Cruces, but I can live with the coverage I have. The company I work for has almost 500 Field Service Techs using these phones nationwide with very few complaints

[Howard2k]

I love 3G. My new Sprint phone supplied by my employer has unlimited 3G access.

Correct me if I'm wrong,but the only country that has 3G Cellular Phone technology is Japan. The US and Canada Cellular phone technology is far from being 3G.



Actually there are a few other countries that make up the world ;)

The UK has 3G too. You're right though, 1X and GPRS are 2.5G. I think only sales people refer to them as 3G.

The cellular technology in the US and Canada is years behind other countries.

[jeffmd]

uhmm, untill 3G comes out with access points I can buy, wifi is staying in my house.