April 26, 2004

Flexibility Comes Relatively Cheap - Wireless Networking

WiFi can be a liberating tool for corporate offices and on the road entrepreneurs. I've set it up in my office and have used it on the road. From air port lounges, to home offices to Starbucks - the wireless revolution marches on.

The Washington Post's Rob Pegoraro writes At its most basic, WiFi is the Internet equivalent of a cordless phone. Instead of replacing a coiled-up phone cord, WiFi takes the place of Ethernet cable, the thick wiring that stretches under desks in offices.

Doesn't sound too exciting, does it?

But WiFi has done this basic job a little too well -- it has made local area networking so cheap and (mostly) easy, people can set up networks in ways that would have been too difficult before. Few people would go to the trouble of connecting a computer to a stereo or giving away Internet access in a park if it meant littering Ethernet cable all over the place, but with WiFi those scenarios are eminently possible. (full story)

The Washington Post also had an article reviewing WiFi access points.

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