Wireless is a technology that’s cheap, easy and useful right
now, and yet it’s a technology that’s still very young. Here’s a
quick look at what the future could hold for wireless
networking. It will only improve and develop with time.
The Radio and the Phone
Wireless networks will always win over wired ones, in the end,
simply because it is cheaper for signals to travel through the
free air than it is to install and maintain wires. If you want
an example of this, consider that telephones were originally
used for sending and receiving news reports. When radio was
invented, this stopped almost overnight — why bother going to
all that expense when it’s free over the air?
It’s the same way with computer networking. Imagine you have a
choice between a wired Internet connection and a wireless one.
Why would you choose the wired one? Because it’s cheaper? That
will change soon. Because you know how to use it? Wireless is
easier. There’s no reason why anyone wouldn’t switch in an
instant, if they had the opportunity.
WiMAX
You remember that wireless networking today uses a standard
called 802.11? Well, WiMAX is 802.16 — the next generation of
wireless. It’s still a work in progress, but the possibilities
are exciting.
WiMAX stands for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave
Access, and is designed to complement existing wireless
equipment rather than replace it. The biggest advantage of WiMAX
is in its vastly increased range: instead of being measured in
square metres, WiMAX ranges will be measured in square
kilometres. Some say the strongest WiMAX stations could transmit
for up to 50 kilometres — over 30 miles!
This obviously opens up a whole new world of possibilities.
Wireless access would move from LANs to MANs: Metropolitan Area
Networks, covering a whole town or city with wireless access.
The question would no longer be whether there was a hotspot in
the area where you were, but which of the many WiMAX networks
you wanted to connect to.
Other benefits of WiMAX include speed of up to 70Mbps (almost 10
MB per second), and stronger security. Imagine a future where
ordering Internet access is as simple as connecting your
existing wireless equipment to the network, opening your web
browser, and buying a low cost subscription. That’s it — done.
No more access points, no more routers, no more configuration…
just wireless Internet, everywhere. WiMAX is going to take the
world by storm.
For the latest news on WiMAX, take a look at the WiMAX Weblog at
http://wimax.weblogsinc.com, or visit the WiMAX Forum (a
non-profit industry group set up to promote WiMAX) at
http://www.wimaxforum.org. WiMAX has been in development since
2001 now, and the first WiMAX equipment is currently expected to
hit the market as soon as the end of 2005.
Bluetooth in Everything
While Bluetooth’s most obvious purpose is to replace USB, it is
designed so that it can eventually replace almost every wire
there is (except power cables). That means that someday your TV
could be connecting to your DVD player by Bluetooth, or your
speakers could connect to your radio with it, and so on and on.
As you get older, expect to see fewer and fewer wires. I know
people said the same thing about paper, but it turns out people
like paper and don’t want a ‘paperless society’. How many people
do you know who have a thing for wires? Exactly. Once someone
figures out a way to provide reliable wireless power (better
batteries?) we’ll be set!
A Simpler Life
When you read about the potential of wireless technology for a
while, one thing sticks out in your mind: it all sounds so
convenient. Wires have so many flaws, especially when they go
long distances, and the overall wireless project is to remove
them from our lives — and then charge us less! That has to be
worth supporting, doesn’t it? I’ll make a prediction now: I
think that, within a decade, wireless access will be making
everyone’s life much easier, and they won’t even notice it’s
there. That’s the future of wireless. See you there.
About the author:
Original Source: Articles-Galore.com
Information supplied and written by Lee Asher of CyberTech SoftShop
Suppliers of the DeadEasy
Ebook Maker and Publishing Wizard.