A Continent Connected: The (Slow) Rise of WiFi


250,000+ readers!

Home

Windows Tutorials

As North America becomes increasingly dependent on the Internet, WiFi is becoming a household term across the continent. City planners are building WiFi into future plans, and in many U.S. cities wireless Internet can be reached from the average cafe.

What is WiFi, exactly?

The name WiFi was originally coined by the company WiFi Alliance as a descriptor of its Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN). However, as wireless technology and the name itself have become so popular, WiFi is no longer a licensed term, and it even appears in recent versions of Webster's dictionary.

By engaging anything from laptops to PDAs near a WiFi "Access Point" (AP), users can gain Internet access without routers, or messy cords. WiFi was first intended for Local Area Networks (LANs), but has in the past few years acted as a virtual hub for Internet access, gaming, and even the connection of other electronics, such as televisions and DVD players. (Source: wikipedia.org)

In recent years, WiFi has become a part of average America's city infrastructure. Two years ago, the city of Tempe, Arizona set in motion plans to bring WiFi to all of its 160,000 residents without raising taxes, and in that time the virtual connection has been appreciatively adopted by city workers, including fire and police rescue teams.

Why no cost to residents?

In many instances, as was the case in Tempe, private companies are willing to assume initial costs in order to get a successful WiFi network established.

Tempe's city councilors teamed with MobilePro, a nationally-represented Internet and telecommunications company. MobilePro forked over $3 million for more than 700 poles, transmitters, and receivers. While residents were not docked for the massive cost of establishing the network, they are debited $29.95 a month if they want to tap into MobilePro's wireless network. (Source: news.com)

This is where the problem seems to lie. As of now, Tempe's residents are not paying the monthly, weekly, or daily fees. Many might be happy with the free two-hour-a-day 56Kbps service that MobilePro offers. The popular following of city workers is undoubtedly also a result of costs. Civil services in Tempe are not charged for using the full network as offered by MobilePro.

Recently, the city of Philadelphia decided to sell wireless connectivity as a municipal service. Clearly, WiFi is making its mark on cities across the United States. Now, all they have to do is make it available for free. (Source: news.com)

Recent articles (from all channels):

2008/05/12 Today in History: for Monday, May 12, 2008
2008/05/12 [ShellX 20080512]: 'Remote Manager', and 'Cyber Bandwidth ...
2008/05/12 Video Gaming Trade Group Struggling
2008/05/12 T-Mobile Finally Joins 3G Phone Race
2008/05/12 Apple Slammed by Environment Watchdog
2008/05/09 [ShellX 20080509]: 'Advanced Run', and 'Diver Windows Manager'
2008/05/09 Texas Refuses Facebook Friend Request
2008/05/09 Photo-Enforcement Technology Replaces Officers On Patrol
2008/05/09 Cuban Government Says 'Ok Computer'
2008/05/09 Excel Can E-Mail Your Weekly Reports For You!
2008/05/08 [ShellX 20080508]: 'Shell Enhancer', and 'Lansweeper'
2008/05/08 Xobni: MS Outlook Social Networking Technology for your Inbox
2008/05/08 Music Companies Jump on GTA IV Bandwagon
2008/05/08 Fascinating: Memristor to replace Binary
2008/05/08 Adobe Hopes To Make Flash Master Of The (Mobile) Universe
2008/05/08 Spiffy Envelopes and Labels in MS Word
2008/05/07 [ShellX 20080507]: 'Winbin2iso', and 'Loop Typer'
2008/05/07 Yahoo Adds Security Warnings To Search Results
2008/05/07 Apple to Lose Money on iTunes Movie Releases
2008/05/07 Amazon.com takes New York Tax to Court
2008/05/07 Need Glasses for the Slide Sorter View in MS PowerPoint?
2008/05/07 After Winning The DVD Format War, Blu-Ray Sales Tank
2008/05/06 [ShellX 20080506]: 'Visual Basic 6.0 Portable', and 'Double-...
2008/05/06 Yahoo Outsources to Jajah
2008/05/06 New HP Circuit Could Change Technology Forever
2008/05/06 Movie Downloads To Match DVD Release Dates
2008/05/06 Microsoft Ends Yahoo Bid
2008/05/05 [ShellX 20080505]: 'Ie7 Pro', and 'Desktop Ok'
2008/05/05 The WB Network Hops Online
2008/05/05 Microsoft Slashes Price of Xbox 360 Overseas
2008/05/05 Google CEO Wants YouTube to Take More of Your Money

--

Subscription Management

To subscribe to our newsletter, or to read past issues:

http://www.infopackets.com/windows+newsletter.htm

To remove or change your subscription information, visit:

http://www.infopackets.com/remove+change+email.htm