Your Guide To Wireless

700MHz Auction Coming Soon

More companies are begin bidding on a section of the 700MHz spectrum that had previously been used by analog TV. This auction, however, has engendered much more media interest than past FCC auctions, in part because of the spectrum's features but also because of the companies participating in the sale. The section of the 700MHz spectrum the FCC is auctioning off is composed of five different blocks. Of these, the A, B, and E blocks are further divided into smaller regional areas. These secti...

Small Atheros Wi-Fi Wireless Chips

Atheros Shrinks Wi-Fi Wireless Networking Chips So They Can Fit In The Tiniest Applications Atheros Communications said in the fall that its tiny Wi-Fi chips would be used in a range of exciting new applications. It revealed at the International Consumer Electronics Show in January that its chips are used in the award-winning Eye-Fi SD memory cards. The cards have a built-in wireless networking antenna that lets them automatically upload digital camera images to networked computers or even In...

Municipal Wireless on the Ropes

If you visit Chicago and you want public Wi-Fi access, you'd better go to Starbucks. Once hailed as one of the pioneers of the citywide municipal Wi-Fi movement, Chicago reevaluated its original $18.5 million plan, citing market conditions, and will redeploy the project in the next year or two. On the heels of Chicago's announcement, Philadelphia and New York have also reported problems getting their Wi-Fi programs off the ground. In fact, MuniWireless.com has downgraded its growth estimates for...

Google, Verizon Take Sides in Wireless Auction

A chunk of the electromagnetic spectrum is opening up, and everyone wants a piece In January 2008, a 60MHz band within the 700MHz range, currently reserved for analog television signals, will be auctioned off by the FCC to the highest bidder. Consumer advocates are calling for an open-access policy, noting that the availability of this spectrum has the potential to allow nationwide wireless broadband access. It’s a stance supported by at least one of the five FCC commissioners, as well as Google, which has pledged to bid at least $4.6 billion if the FCC commits to keeping the spectrum impartial to specific software and devices. Verizon, on the other hand, is opposed to such regulation, preferring, naturally, that the market sort things out. AT&T supports keeping 22MHz of the spectrum open to all, but, of course, has its own ideas about what to do with the rest.

In-Flight Net Making a Comeback

Alaska Airlines plans to test a high-speed satellite wireless Internet service on some of its aircraft next year, making it the first U.S. carrier to offer such broadband service. The broadband service provider relies on geosynchronous satellites to provide broadband to planes anywhere in the world. Customers will use Wi-Fi hotspots located in the aircraft cabin to access the service. In the past, aircraft broadband services have struggled. Boeing pulled its Connexion option last year after failing to sign enough airlines onto the service. Though support from international airlines was strong, U.S. carriers hesitated to adopt the service following the terrorist attacks of 2001 and the subsequent industry downturn. Meanwhile, American Airlines has announced plans to test a broadband service in 2008 that will rely on air-to-ground technology, rather than satellites. The test will focus on American’s Boeing 767 planes, primarily on transcontinental routes. Provider Air-Cell says that it will construct cellular towers throughout the United States to beam the signals to aircraft. American will offer its broadband service as an extra-cost option, but the airline won’t announce the exact fee until the service rolls out.

Wireless Project Implemented for Wrong Reasons

The topic of municipal wireless has become a real hot button. Many communities are implementing municipal wireless, but they’re doing so for the wrong reasons. And, worse, there’s a dirty little secret about muni-wireless. Not all municipal wireless efforts are political pork, nor are they failures. The city of Providence, R.I., for example, has done everything right. The city started out with a goal that was clearly defined, achievable, limited in scope, and that improved city services while reducing costs. Municipal wireless was implemented to make the city work more efficiently, and it does. But a more typical approach by cities is to promise free wireless access to the masses. The reasons given are many, ranging from bridging the digital divide to promoting business in certain areas of a city. Disadvantaged kids will finally be able to do their school research online! Poor families can apply for jobs, get their GEDs or take college courses! There’s also the picture painted of decaying city centers magically revitalized when people can use their laptops while enjoying the amenities of downtown. No doubt you can already imagine the gentle crunch of the hypodermic needles beneath your feet as you make your way to a bench so you can sit down and compute. That’s assuming you can find a bench not already occupied with a sleeping person, or not already covered by, well, something unmentionable. The reason you’re looking for a bench outside is because of that dirty little secret I mentioned earlier. Most of the time, municipal wireless doesn’t work inside buildings. Or, if it does, it’s not free. Want to check your e-mail or download tunes for your iPhone while you sip your day’s calorie load in that mint chocolate mocha frappuccino? Better you should use the coffee shop’s hot spot, where you’ll at least get a comfortable chair and a reliable connection. Cynically speaking, many mayors push municipal Wi-Fi so they can wow the voters. All it takes are a few wireless access points in a disadvantaged section of town, and the politicians have a reason for their affluent and socially aware voters to vote for them. The fact that those wireless networks don’t penetrate low income housing doesn’t matter because the people who live there can’t afford computers anyway. There are exceptions. Riverside, Calif., for example, figured out that you can’t solve the problem of the digital divide without offering a complete solution. So the city is providing a wireless network that works inside buildings, as well as computers and training to those who can’t afford them. Unfortunately, many of these municipal projects end up costing taxpayers but providing few services. Remember the old saying about there being no such thing as a free lunch? It also applies to wireless. by Technical Analyst Wayne Rash

Pinching Wi-Fi Poachers

Police are arresting those who connect to unsecured wireless networks. But is it really a crime to surf for free? Piggybacking on your neighbors Wi-Fi connection may seem like a victimless crime unworthy of punishment, but some officials beg to differ. In late August, the BBC reported that London police arrested a 39-year-old man for connecting to an unsecured Wi-Fi network while standing outside the network owner’s home. In the U.K., clear provisions such as the Communications Act 2003 and the Computer Misuse Act ban this practice. But here in the States, the laws are vaguer. The closest the U.S. comes to outlawing Wi-Fi mooching is Title 18, Section 1030 of the U.S. Code, which prohibits “unauthorized access.” According to Tracy Mitrano, director of information technology policy at Cornell University, there are three types of laws that courts use to try to prosecute Wi-Fi filches: those dealing with trespassing, hacking, and creating counterfeit cable boxes. “It’s not a perfect fit,” Mitrano says. “Trespass law was based on physical space. I don’t think any of them successfully address the issue.” Often, state and local regulations are prosecuted in vastly different ways. In 2005, a Florida man was charged with a third-class felony for lurking outside a Tampa house with his laptop. And two men, one in Alaska and one in Michigan, were handed down fines for accessing free Wi-Fi hot spots from the street, instead of inside the walls of the business. In 2006, the legislature of Westchester County, on the outskirts of New York City, became the first in the country to pass a law requiring businesses to secure their internal wireless networks. County Board Chair Bill Ryan says that the measure was put into place to protect both the data of local businesses and the personal information of employees. Mitrano, like many others, feels the responsibility lies with users to secure their home or business networks. She warns against hindering wireless technology’s progress through over legislation. “Thank goodness we don’t live in a country where we are required to process all of our technology through federal and state governments, where it is not released until lawmakers are shown every intended and unintended use to establish a legal framework,” she says. “We would throw ourselves back into the Stone Age if we did that.”