WI-FI
Next time you're downtown, open your laptop - you may be in for a pleasant surprise. If you're toting a wireless network card, it just might work. Increasingly, urban areas are within range of password-free personal wireless base units, meaning anyone with an 802.11b Wi-Fi card can log on, outlet-free.
San Francisco-based network consultant Cliff Skolnick has become a magnet for base owners happy to share signals with strangers; a year ago, he started maintaining a list of publicly accessible Wi-Fi points in the Bay Area at www.toaster.net. "When I went to the coffeehouse down the street, I could see my home network from my laptop every now and then - so I added an antenna," he explains. Skolnick publishes only access points volunteered by their owners, but he says many more exist.
Security worries have prompted some corporate network managers to crack down on employees who augment their company laptops with Apple AirPort bases. But a growing number of guerrilla Wi-Fi operators are countering by setting up public access points, sometimes boosted by illegal amplifiers. "The great thing about 802.11b is it's cheap," says Skolnick. With an FCC-approved $100 antenna, a $299 AirPort base can serve an entire block. But hopes of networking these access points into wireless ISPs are pretty unrealistic, he adds, citing the 802.11b standard's short range and crowded FCC assigned spectrum.
David Ticoll, chair of Toronto-based biz-strategy firm Digital 4Sight, says this could change next year, as the longer-range 802.11a standard becomes affordable and DIY networks help drive demand. "The whole thing is below the radar of anyone interested in making money," says Ticoll. "But once people get dependent on it, quality of service becomes an issue, and you can charge for that."
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