What's next for Wireless?

Posted on 7 Aug 2007 at 17:48

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What's more, the networking industry as a whole needs to adopt WiFi Multimedia (WMM), which is also a part of 802.11n's QoS feature. As well as helping to prioritise traffic into four different categories, this provides built-in power-saving features that help to increase battery life of mobile devices. For connectivity on the move, reasonable battery life is essential. No laptop user can be away from a power source for more than a couple of hours without panicking about where the next recharge is coming from, and handheld devices fare little better when WiFi is in constant use.

Services such as those offered by wireless broadband provider The Cloud (www.thecloud.net) have made great leaps forward in certain areas of the country, including the City of London and Manchester. However, they still rely on contracts or pay-as-you-go charges. Norwich led the way in rolling out a free wireless service across the city, offering below-broadband speeds to anyone who wants to use the connection. As more councils show an interest in establishing similar services, we can only hope that we will eventually have uninterrupted wireless connections while on the move.

These sorts of 'mesh networks' are made up of a number of individual access points, each of which provides internet access. Each access point has a limited range, but their coverage overlaps. Data can be transferred between nodes to deliver network access to anyone within range of any of the access points, and to prevent dropouts when moving between nodes. To avoid competing with paid-for services, free wireless speeds are limited to 256Kbit/s for most users. This is much lower than the broadband speeds we are used to, but it is more than enough for checking emails when you're out and about, or even using VoIP services.

Many people view WiMAX as something of a security risk. With thousands of customers connected to the same access point, the potential for data theft is massive. For the time being, greater levels of encryption may be the only defence, but ultimately a better means of establishing computer and user identity is needed. The use of passwords is a fundamentally weak security measure, and while biometric solutions are not infallible, they may be a step in the right direction.

Author: Mark Wilson