Gearing up for the wireless life.
54G ROUTERS
The future of Wi-Fi is 802.11g, five times faster and backward-compatible with 802.11b, the current standard. Caveats: Web surfing - bottlenecked by your Internet connection, not these routers - will seem as slow as ever, and the first batch of products will need upgrades once g gets ratified later this year. That said, gimme-gimme folks already have a raft of zippy routers to choose from.
Apple Airport Extreme Base Station
$199 www.apple.com
D-Link AirPlus Xtreme G DI-624 Wireless Router
$149 www.dlink.com
Linksys Wireless-G Router
$199 www.linksys.com
Belkin 54g Wireless Cable/DSL Gateway Router
$150 www.belkin.com
WIRELESS ETHERNET BRIDGES
One of the joys of online gaming is crushing opponents across the globe. Meanwhile, your Ethernet cable won't even let you across the room. Break loose with this bridge, which turns an Ethernet port into a Wi-Fi connection, making nearly any device - Xbox, PlayStation 2, laser printer, older PC - wireless ready.
Linksys WET11 Wireless Ethernet Bridge
$119 www.linksys.com
D-Link Air DWL-810
$129 www.dlink.com
POCKET PCs
The days of handhelds as glorified tip calculators are gone. The latest Pocket PCs are do-it-all marvels. The HP iPAQ h5455, for example, doesn't miss a bell or a whistle. Wi-Fi? Yep. Bluetooth? Roger. Biometric fingerprint reader? Sure, what they heck. Check your email when you're out and about. This pumped-up device can connect to the Net through a mobile phone or Wi-Fi hot spot.
HP iPAQ Pocket PC h5455
$699 www.hpshopping.com
Toshiba Pocket PC e740
$549 www.shoptoshiba.com
MEDIA RECEIVERS
Got a million MP3s but tired of burning CDs? Shoot your tunes to the stereo with a Wi-Fi media receiver. These machines come with remotes that let you choose songs and even playlists. Some handle more than music: The HP and Sony receivers grab photos from your PC and show them on your television screen. Sony's version, which works only with Vaio PCs and 802.11a networks, plays MPEG-2 video on your TV, too.
Sony RoomLink network media receiver PCNA-MR10
$200 www.sonystyle.com
HP Digital Media Receiver ew5000
$299 www.hpshopping.com
Motorola Simplefi Wireless Digital Audio Receiver
$379 www.motorola.com
Terra Player TR-100
$895 www.terraplayer.com
WIRELESS CAMS
Webcams are so '90s. Today exhibitionists use Wi-Fi cams with built-in Web servers that beam live, hi-res photos to the anonymous masses. The image quality is stunning, and the refresh rates approach full-motion video. Dubious? Feast your eyes on a state-of-the-art fishcam: ww.dlink.com/LiveDemo.
D-Link Air DCS-1000W
$329 www.dlink.com
Advantek Networks CAS-200W
$295 www.advanteknetworks.com
TABLET PCs
Make no mistake, tablet PCs are full-blown Windows XP computers. But as they trim down, they're becoming almost as easy to carry as PDAs. Consider the NEC Versa LitePad. At 2.2 pounds, this 0.6-inch-thick portable is compact enough to take anywhere. It has built-in 802.11a and b capability, so you can write that novel and surf the Web from any white sand beach.
NEC Versa LitePad
$2,399 www.necsolutions-am.com
Fujitsu Stylistic ST4110 Wireless LAN
$2,299 www.fujitsupc.com
WI-FI CARDs
Every expansion slot is precious in a PDA or notebook. If speed is your thing, shop for a new 802.11g card. Or, if you want both storage and connectivity, go with SanDisk's Connect. It uses flash memory to stow files in Pocket PCs and Windows notebooks, and links you up to Wi-Fi networks.
Sandisk 128 MB Connect Dual-Function Card
$130 www.sandisk.com
Linksys WPC 54G Wireless G PC Card
$70 www.linksys.com
VOICE OVER WI-FI
Clip one of these to your shirt and you can call a pal just by saying "Get me Jim." The sleek voice-activated badge uses Wi-Fi to link to a Vocera server, which connects you with another badge wearer, a cell user, or some poor schlub with a landline. This one-of-a-kind system is no toy: A network for 75 employees costs about $40,000 with PBX integration. So refrain from saying "Beam me up, Scotty!" unless you mean it.
Vocera Communications System
$27,000 and up www.vocera.com
Bluetooth Devices
Like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth uses the 2.4-GHz band for data transfer. But its maximum range is 30 feet, limiting it to gadget-to-gadget communication. There are more than 1,000 Bluetooth products on the market, with 10 more introduced each week.
PRINT ADAPTERS
Carry one of these gizmos around and you can hijack any printer. Say you're in a client's office. Connect the adapter to the printer's parallel port, turn on your Bluetooth-enabled PDA or notebook, and - bam - you're printing up a storm.
Anycom PM-2002 Printer Module
$149 www.anycom.com
3Com Wireless Bluetooth Printing Kit
$219 www.3com.com
Troy Wireless WindConnect
$179 www.troygroup.com
GPS RECEIVERS
Lose the connector cables, not your way, when you hit the road. Socket's GPS receiver works quickly and cordlessly with laptops, tablets, and PDAs.
Socket Bluetooth GPS Receiver
$399 www.socketcom.com
HEADSETS
It's hard to look important while you're talking into a headset with that wire dangling in your face. Bluetooth headsets let you cut the cord and make calls even while your mobile is tucked away in your briefcase. But watch out: Some are so comfortable, you might forget to take it off.
Jabra Freespeak Bluetooth Headset
$99 www.jabra.com
Anycom Bluetooth WireFree Headset AHS-10
$79 www.anycom.com
Motorola Bluetooth Wireless Headset
$149 www.motorola.com
ACCESS POINTS
Power-efficient Bluetooth lets you link your devices to a network, and it won't eat up batteries as quickly as Wi-Fi. Caveat: The access point's price tag will chew through your wallet faster.
Pico PicoBlue Internet Access Point
$419 www.pico.net
Axis 9010 Bluetooth Access Point
$399 www.axis.com
