No Strings Attached - wireless networking - Statistical Data Included

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, April, 2001 by Michael J. Martinez

TECHNLOGY | WIRELESS NWTWORKING lets you link home Computers for surprisingly little cash.

BILL DIDN'T want a nervous system's worth of wires linking the computer hardware that runs through his recently built dream home. But as a high-tech executive, he wanted the freedom to move his laptops and other devices anywhere in the house, while allowing them to share data and Internet access instantly. He isn't alone. More than 16 million U.S. homes have more than one computer, and barely one-fourth of those are networked, according to PC Data magazine.

After spending a few years searching for the right solution, Bill finally settled on a wireless networking system with the captivating name 802.11. Now he and his young family can wander anywhere in the house and be computer-connected without seeing--or tripping over--wires. He likes his system so much, in fact, that he wirelessly "wired" his workplace, providing each employee with instant access to data and the Internet from the company's offices, conference rooms and cafeterias. "I even gave 802.11 for Christmas this year," Bill told Kiplinger's during the winter consumer-electronics show in Las Vegas.

Bill can afford that kind of gift. After all, his last name is Gates, and he's Microsoft's chairman. But even if you don't have a 20-car garage and a conference center in your home, wireless home networking may be in your league. Networking your computers allows you to send files from one computer to another--no more transferring files to a floppy disk and then shuttling them downstairs to the other computer. You can share peripherals, such as printers and scanners, and if you have a computer equipped with high-speed cable Internet access, your other computers will be able to tap into that high-speed connection without additional cables.

Affordable and easy

AT ONE TIME, linking your computers involved stringing wires through the house or sending signals through the home's existing power or phone system. But older homes with antiquated phone and power lines may not be able to handle data transmissions, and installing Ethernet cable all over the house can be expensive and time-consuming.

Wireless home networking avoids those hassles. Says Mark Henricks, author of Mastering Home Networking (Sybex, $30): "While wireless has become increasingly popular, it's only recently that people have been able to install it themselves easily." Hiring someone to do it for you can be expensive, with the cost of parts and labor reaching $1,000 or more. But do-it-yourselfers can network their computers for as little as $100 per computer.

Whichever method you choose, you need to know that two standards compete for wireless home networking: the aforementioned 802.11 and Home RF (radio frequency). The two systems broadcast data over different wavelengths using different protocols--in other words, they're not compatible.

Lately, the 802.11 systems have been whipping their rivals in both home and business applications. Many high-tech corporate campuses, such as Microsoft's, are 802.11-ready. The Starbucks coffee-shop chain recently announced that it would install an 802.11 system in a number of its stores, allowing customers to surf the Web on either the stores laptops or their own wireless-ready machines while they sip their lattes.

Growing acceptance of 802.11 has caused rough sledding for Home RE While a number of prominent high-tech companies support Home RF, including 3Com, IBM and Intel, the system's technology is struggling due to a lack of speed and flexibility. The Home RF systems transmit at a bit rate (which measures how much data is transmitted how quickly) of 1.6 megabits per second, while the 802.11 systems have a maximum bit rate of 11 mbps--nearly 200 times the speed of a 56K dial-up modem.

In our experiences with the wireless networks using a rousing multiplayer game of Quake II, we discovered a few general principles that apply to both 802.11 and Home RE Indoors, most home wireless networks have a range of about 200 to 300 feet and up to two stories. While in range, the systems transmit anywhere from 500 kilobits per second to 5 megabits per second. Performance varies with distance, but it is also affected by such factors as intervening walls and electrical devices.

Installing a wireless home network is easier than you might think. Most basic systems require cards for your computers--internal cards for desktops and external PC cards for laptops. Naturally, the laptop installation is a snap. Installing a desktop card is about a 20-minute job, as long as you follow the instructions. Finally, you have to install the networking software, which, like most types of software, ranges from very easy to opaquely difficult.

What works best

THE EASIEST 802.11 system to install is the AirPort system by Apple Computer (www.apple.com/airport). It consists of a $299 base station (which connects to either a dial-up connection or a DSL high-speed line) and a $99 card for each Apple iMac, PowerBook, PowerMac G4 or iBook laptop. Installation is a breeze: The card slips into a slot inside most Macs (or under the iBook keyboard). The software is pre-installed, so once the cards are in and the base station is on, you're ready.