CNN's Special Wireless Report

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/wireless/' target='_blank'>http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/wireless/</a><br /><br /></div>"With the variety of new wireless gadgets and gizmos debuting this year, many are bound to top holiday wish lists. Sales of WiFi --- short for wireless fidelity -- products have tripled since 2001 and experts predict a second Information Age in the 21st century, where access to the Internet, personal data and other information will be available anytime, anywhere via wireless connections."<br /><br />We've already discussed a lot of this, but it's nice to see such a comprehensive discussion lumped into one site. If you're new to wireless or just want some morning reading, check it out.

[bjornkeizers]

Yes, WiFi really seems to be taking off. I recently got a whole wireless setup for home too. We use WiFi at school to connect to our network anywhere in our building [sharing space with the IT geeks has its advantages :D ]

I was so so impressed with the speed of internet over WiFi that I bought a wireless router a week later. We already had a wired network, so all I had to do was replace and set up the router - very easy.

I'd recommend WiFi to anyone who uses a laptop at home. Now I can sit and work anywhere, and I don't have to walk so far for my Earl Grey fix. :D

[Ed Hansberry]

Agreed. I've had wireless in my house for 18 months now. It's great being able to get online from anywhere in my house or property. I'm wireless now with my 2215 posting this. I'm also planning to get a media PC and it'll be nice putting it on the LAN without running cables. :-)

[bjornkeizers]

Yep. Now you have total freedom. We have the router set up on the first floor, and I can now surf from anywhere in or around the house: and I do mean *anywhere*: attic, dining room, backyard, bathroom.. Hell, I have a coffee at my neighbour's and still connect to my access point :D

And the speed is just as good s when surfing at home, and I only drop a connection very rarely. I thought WiFi would be quite slow and prone to signal loss, but so far it's been a great experience.

[Ed Hansberry]

I thought WiFi would be quite slow and prone to signal loss, but so far it's been a great experience.
Anyone for a round of "Yes, bluetooth sucks!" ;-) :lol:

[iPaqDude]

I'll throw my agreement in here also. I just recently replaced my 802.11b with a "g" and use it with my laptop, and am typeing this in while sitting by my pool (I'm in Florida) with my 2215 using a Socket "b" card - all on the same network - ain't technology grand!

Recently our city has started experimenting with providing WiFi in our downtown area - still a little early to have people jumping on the wagon but it is in the right direction. I believe they are going "b", wish they would go "g" so they won't have to spend the bucks upgrading later.

I enjoy using the BT-GPRS through T-Mobile, but with the faster speeds of WiFi, it will be really great when more areas adopt the metropolitan aspects of coverage and start providing it on a much wider scale.

Oh well.... back to my nap.... :zzz:

[Qman]

Yes WiFi is great been running is on (1) PC (2) Pocket Pc's (3) Laptops for over two years. Live is good! :)

[dma1965]

I thought WiFi would be quite slow and prone to signal loss, but so far it's been a great experience.
Anyone for a round of "Yes, bluetooth sucks!" ;-) :lol:

Ed, Bluetooth may be a burden to those who have had bad times with it, but when it works it is awesome. For me, once configuration is done, I really never have to worry about it again. I never drop my GPRS connections with my Bluetooth Cell Phone, and my iPaq Bluetooth GPS is a dream to use. I do wish WiFi was everywhere, just like radio and TV signals, but until it is Bluetooth will have to fill the gap, and, for some things, like a GPS, wifi is really not the best way to go. I think Bluetooth is getting better, and would love to see it thrive.

[Len Egan]

WiFi is around so I can log on anywhere it is available. It is a beautiful thing. Laptop, handheld, doesn't matter...I can hop on!

[jimski]

I thought WiFi would be quite slow and prone to signal loss, but so far it's been a great experience.
Anyone for a round of "Yes, bluetooth sucks!" ;-) :lol:

Ok now, take it easy Ed. I find my home and office WiFi connections to work nearly flawlessly with all my devices (laptop, tablet, PPC). Equally so, my T68 connects to my PPC, my headset and my Parrot handsfree unit, all via Bluetooth, whenever I need it to. My only failed connections have been a result of ATT's lacking GSM/GRPS network.

I have setup my last two laptops and tablet with Bluetooth connections but honestly don't know why. I think WiFi owns PC's (desktops/laptops) as it should be. But when you are talking about; digital cameras, portable keyboards, stereo and TV remotes, cell phones, PDAs, etc., Bluetooth has a real place in this world. I think there is plently of room for both.

[freitasm]

I thought WiFi would be quite slow and prone to signal loss, but so far it's been a great experience.
Anyone for a round of "Yes, bluetooth sucks!" ;-) :lol:

Can only respond with this: http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?ForumId=9&TopicId=799

In summary: Bought a Sandisk wi-fi card. Didn't work. Support was horrible. Replied the wrong answers, Finally admitted drivers are still being "developed".

My thoughts? wi-fi is a pain with wrong products - exactly like everything else (including Bluetooth).

[powder2000]

Have had wifi for two years and it has worked great for me on every device. I think for the most part, any blame on wifi or bluetooth should be directed at the manufacturers for that particular adapter. If the driver is not good, the device is no good. I finally broke down a year ago and replaced my netgear cf with a socket wifi cf and haven't looked back. I have wifi access at work and home with my eg-800 (ppc 2000) and it works flawlessly.

[Rob Alexander]

I guess I'll just consider myself lucky because both Wi-Fi and BT work well for me. I use Wi-Fi (802.11g) at home as my wife's permanent connection to the cable modem and to use my work laptop, that has it built-in, around the house. I tried Wi-Fi on my PPC, but I really didn't see the point. Surfing on a 3 1/2" screen did nothing to excite me, where the laptop works great and is perfectly convenient to surf on in the living room. At work, I use BT to sync my PPC with the same laptop (a USB BT module plugged into the docking station and built-in to the PPC). It works flawlessly and saved me having to buy an extra cradle. So what can I say... each has its place and they both work for me as advertised. Life is good. :D