RayW
Premium
join:2001-09-01
Layton, UT
clubs: | I agree
Now we wait and see if it is a waste. |
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wkendrvr
join:2001-07-09
Greensboro, NC
| huh?
Hello? We are talking apples and oranges again. Bluetooth is not the same type of protocol as 802.11 (think irDA).
They were NEVER intended to compete with each other, if anything, barring interference problems, they can enhance each other... |
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tomkb
Premium
join:2000-11-15
Avon, OH
clubs: | Well
It's a waste as a commercial venture, as it increases in popularity, the airwaves are bombarded with noise and this is an unregulated band. |
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Yowzaaah
Ours Go To Eleven
join:2000-12-14
DamnFlat, OH
clubs:
| I love hotspots
Everytime I'm in Chicago or NY I leach bandwidth from my hotel room. It's great all I need is my WiFi card and Net Stumbler and I'm set. No more $2.00 dialup access fees from the Hyatt or the Westin.
--
Don't suspect your friends...Report Them. Brazil (if you haven't seen it, you should) |
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jcondon
join:2000-05-27
Thornwood, NY
| UK numbers
The article mentions UK numbers.
I would imagine more then 50% of the readers of this website are probably in the USA and maybe Canada.
Seems like a more interesting story would have US numbers.
Then they throw in BlueTooth into the article. Perhaps they mean for cellphones that have Internet and BlueTooth?
Coupled with a BlueTooth enabled Laptop and it gets a bit more interesting.
That might offer some serious competition to WiFI. But, 3G phones and slower have not been impressive in their speed and reliability (at least not the ones I have used).
I have never used a 4G phone. |
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Eat Me
join:2002-09-25
Sussex, NJ
 ·PenTeleData
 ·Future Nine Corpor..
·VOIPo
·Vonage
| reply to tomkb
Re: Well
It's not an unregulated band. There are actually other legit users of the band around. 802.11 falls under FCC Part 15 rules, which means that all users are allowed only limited power, and can use the band on a secondary basis.
Now, if the FCC would grant licenses and regulate 802.11 properly, maybe it could be better. The way I would like to see it is that the channels that are outside of the ham radio 2.4GHz band can be for commercial use, and those that are in the ham radio band can be for regular non-commercial ham radio use, under part 97. The FCC should also do away with the requirement to have all data sent over ham radio 802.11 sent in cleartext (unencyrpted). These rules would apply for higher powered transmitters (more than 1 watt) and high gain antennas.
This way, anyone wanting to do 802.11 as a hobby would have to get a very easy to obtain and free ham radio license. And it would mean that any corporation wanting to do 802.11 would stay out of the noncommercial ham radio band. |
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Defiance82
Computer Elite
Premium
join:2002-09-11
Reeds Spring, MO
clubs:
 ·Suddenlink
| Wireless? Yea Right!
I believe it's a waste. I also believe Wireless is crap. As I have used it and quite frankly I think majority of wireless sucks. There is just to much stuff that can drop it and many problems.
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Every man dies...not every man really lives... Hacking is the business for the computer absolute elite... |
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calvoiper
join:2003-03-31
Belvedere Tiburon, CA
| reply to Eat Me
Re: Well
said by Eat Me  :
Now, if the FCC would grant licenses and regulate 802.11 properly, maybe it could be better. The way I would like to see it is that ....
Yeah, like they way they granted licenses for PCS? First, they split the spectrum in completely nonsensical ways. Second, they prohibited initial "nationwide" license acquisition, guaranteeing service fragmentation. Third, they experimented with new "auction" schemes willy-nilly. Fourth, they managed to sell licenses to financially incapable entities which tied up the frequencies for years in litigation. Finally, they admitted to creating a sinkhole in the US Treasury and looked for a bailout--in which the benefit to the consumer was the last consideration. And who benefitted from this? Only the incumbent cellular duopolies, who saw meaningful competition delayed by years. The whole thing was run like a bad psychology experiment for a high-school science fair.
That could be done. (Of course, it would be predated by 1.5 years of arguing over whether the way you "would like to see it happen" is better than the way, say, Verizon "would like to see it happen....")
No, thank you. I'll take the "Wild West" of the present Wi-Fi approach instead, and keep those meddlesome bureaucrats out of the pipeline.
Calvoiper
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VoIP--the death knell of remaining voice monopolies! |
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calvoiper
join:2003-03-31
Belvedere Tiburon, CA | reply to Defiance82
Re: Wireless? Yea Right!
And my Great-Grandad said the same thing about that annoying machine Mr. Ford was selling....
Calvoiper
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VoIP--the death knell of remaining voice monopolies! |
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calvoiper
join:2003-03-31
Belvedere Tiburon, CA
| reply to RayW
Re: I agree
A mix of questions presented here:
1. Will Wi-Fi survive? (IMHO, yes.)
2. Will Bluetooth "beat" Wi-Fi? (IMHO, no.)
3. Will commercial Wi-Fi pay off for its investors? (Who knows?)
The last is the hardest. Putting aside Forresters' preference for Bluetooth for the moment, Wi-Fi stands to become the ultimate commodity--every Tom, Dick, & Harry can put up a hot-spot, so consumer prices for access at any given point are likely to crash.
What survives in a commodity environment? Branding--if your brand is easy to use, easy to bill, widely available, represents reasonable quality, and IS FIRST IN THE MARKET, then your brand may well survive. But you will find your brand attacked niche by niche. If you price high enough to support nationwide roaming (Starbucks), you'll be undercut by the local coffee shop catering to locals who don't travel much. If you support the bandwidth for active gaming, you'll be undercut by the guy who only supports enough bandwidth to use e-mail and spout on DSLR. If you support paper billing, you'll be undercut by the gal who only supports on-line billing and credit-card payment.
I think the "pay-to-play" Wi-Fi folks will have a hard time sooner or later, but most new industries do go through periods of consolidation.
Then again, libraries used to be "paid membership" institutions -- until this Carnegie fellow got the idea that they should be free. Maybe Wi-Fi is destined to become a community service supported by government?
Calvoiper
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VoIP--the death knell of remaining voice monopolies! |
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DrTCP
Yours truly
Premium,ExMod 1999-04
join:1999-11-09
Round Rock, TX | Forrester is wrong!
They are pumping bluetooth for the last 3 years. Still no significant acceptance. Compare that with Wi-Fi (802.11b) and in 3 years there is a huge gap.
Now, there may be consolidation among service providers but Wi-fi will survive. |
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vic102482
Premium
join:2002-04-30
Upper Marlboro, MD
| Wifi is shipping with just about every new laptop
On top of that manufacturers are looking about integrating it into mobos. As conumers move to replacement desktops (big arse laptops) its pretty obvious that they would want mobility. If my laptop can do everything my desktop can, why wouldnt I want wifi.
Again we have certain "specialists" trying to drop the bomb, all they are going to do is scare people away.
We should just let commercial WIFI evolve as it is doing now and see what happens. (and pray the FCC doesnt screw it up)
--
I tie a rope around my penis and jump from a tree, don't you wanna grow up to be just like me!!!! |
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dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ
| reply to calvoiper
Re: I agree
said by calvoiper :
2. Will Bluetooth "beat" Wi-Fi? (IMHO, no.)
LOL. bluetooth was dead years ago while everyone involved with it was squabbling over standards, wifi came in and owned them.
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You can never be too rich, too thin or have too much Bandwidth |
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pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
·Comcast
| reply to calvoiper
Re: Wireless? Yea Right!
said by calvoiper :
that annoying machine Mr. Ford was selling....
Go buy a horse!
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Jewel got Britney-fied! There is hope for the world yet! |
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Orwell 1984
@rr.com
| The Future?
I recently went wireless on my laptop at home. It is O.K. My job requires some travel. There is a chain of truckstops that has 802.11b from the parking lot at really good prices ($90/yr,$2/hr)It works well.There will probably be dismal failures as in the dot com bust. Dot coms are still here, the railroads are still here, and WIFI is likely here to stay. |
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bhhurd
Premium
join:2003-02-13
Korea | Too few WiFi hotspots
WiFi works, when you can find it. Unfortunately, I have been many places in the last few months that have no hotspots.
On the other hand, I can connect via my cell phone and at least check email from almost anywhere. |
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Orwell 1984
@rr.com
| I have been trying to convince my employer that the $50/mo cell phone internet would cost is worthwhile. For now I am still on my own. Even 14.4k would be better than nothing. 256k in my work van at a truckstop is still better.(By the way $50 for the month is only 20 mins of my labor) Damn it is hard to get the accountant to spend a buck. |
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aarong3
join:2002-08-01
Los Angeles, CA | reply to wkendrvr
Re: huh?
nobody seems to be addressing this, and that worries me.
get your tech straight before you start mouthing off, people. |
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WolfJaguar
join:2003-03-20
Portland, OR
| Catchy Title
Well there are plenty of hotspots in my city, in fact, here in Portland, the council is trying to decide if creating a city-wide hotspot with adhoc wireless relays on every block would be feasible.
That would be interesting, yes?
BTW, I know some of my terminology is incorrect, but it's 4am and I need to get to work. *sigh*  |
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ricep5
Premium
join:2000-08-07
Jacksonville, FL
·AT&T Southeast
·AT&T CallVantage
·VoicePulse
·Comcast Formerly ..
| Who will pay?
Who wants to pay?
I go to Borders to check out their "hot spot" from TMobile. Too expensive! Why pay for broadband at home and then pay for hot spot access at Borders?
Now if Borders (or others) were offering some kind of a frequent flyer club for book buyers that would "give" hot spot access away, well, perhaps it could be usable.
To be honest I can't understand why retailers would want people "hanging around" surfing, when they should be there to shop.
I went to Starbucks and there was no where to sit because college students were hanging around surfing on their laptops, coffee well completed. |
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