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Hooking up with Wi-Fi: 6 things to know
Whether you're out of town on business or pleasure, there's still usually
stuff to deal with back at the office.
You can't totally escape, so you bring along a laptop. In between the beach
or meetings, you can get some work done. When you have a broadband
connection at work, it's hard for many of us to stomach a dial-up line on
the road. That's why my laptop is Wi-Fi-enabled. The author used his
wireless connection on a recent trip to Maui. He was cruising the Internet
and checking e-mail at blazing broadband speeds free of charge (more about
that in a moment).
There's a lot of confusion about Wi-Fi. Here are six points to set the
record straight.
1. Wi-Fi is simply a network without wires.
It stands for "wireless fidelity." Many business and home PC users use it to
network computers. Wi-Fi is known formally as 802.11. Isn't that catchy?
There are actually three standards, denoted by letters appended to the
numbers: 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g.
The three differ in speed. But most people have 802.11b. If you have a
Wi-Fi-enabled laptop, that's probably what you have. And it's what you're
likely to encounter on the road.
Wi-Fi runs at 11 megabits per second (Mbps). That's the advertised rate,
anyway. It can be affected by interior walls, distance from the signal,
phases of the moon and so on. Many laptops have a built-in Wi-Fi antenna, so
they are ready to network. An antenna is easily attached if your laptop
doesn't have one. Once enabled, the laptop simply grabs a Wi-Fi signal when
it is within range. Recently, the author experienced this while on vacation
in Hawaii. His computer locked onto a signal from the condominium next door.
Apparently, those folks had a wireless network set up and did not bother to
lock it down. He didn't hack the network or mess with any network settings.
He powered up his laptop and I was online using their connection just like
magic. (Note: He did slip a note under their door when he left, advising
them that their network was not secure.)
It also glommed onto a signal at his Phoenix office from a business next
door. Should you receive more than one signal, that's not a problem: You
simply select the signal you want.
2. Wi-Fi is not the same thing as 2.5G or 3G.
The latter two are telephone standards, which, among
other things, offer easy Web access. These systems are widely available.
Several companies — Sprint, AT&T Wireless and Verizon, to name a few — offer
this service. If your provider has service where you travel, you can access
the Internet.
So what's the big difference? Speed! The telephone standards allow you to
download data at 40 to 70 kilobits per second (Kbps). Wi-Fi can download at
the speed of a cable modem or T1 line. So, if the facility that is providing
Wi-Fi service uses a T1 line, the download will probably run 1.5 Mbps. Look
at it
this way: It's the difference between a 56K modem and really fast broadband.
Advertising sometimes implies that Wi-Fi downloads data from the Internet at
11 Mbps. It doesn't. It can't download any faster than the modem or T1 line
to which it is attached. Still, 1.5 Mbps is a fast download.
3. Wi-Fi networks are sprouting up everywhere. There are thousands of Wi-Fi
installations around the country, and the number continues to balloon. A few
are free, run by altruistic individuals. Many others are run by businesses
such
as hotels, restaurants and coffee shops, to attract business. Most charge
for access. There are several networks of Wi-Fi installations. T-Mobile
operates 2,256 locations, known as hotspots. Each hotspot accesses the
Internet though a T1 line. According to its Web site, T-Mobile has several
plans and is
aiming specifically at the business traveler. It has hotspots in Starbucks
coffeehouses, airport lounges and Borders Books & Music stores.
Another large network is Boingo Wireless. It doesn't own its hotspots.
Rather, it contracts with people who already have them. Boingo has arranged
for more than 1,200 hotspots, most located in hotels and restaurants. They
range from DSL hookups at 385 Kbps to T1 lines.
4. Nevertheless, Wi-Fi isn't necessarily easy to find. So why doesn't
everyone use Wi-Fi? Despite the growth of the networks, access can still be
a problem.
Once you get outside airports, restaurants, coffee shops and hotel lobbies,
there isn't much service. The telephone-based systems are much more widely
available. So, if you're at the airport, you probably have access to Wi-Fi.
But if you're moseying through Stuck, Wash., or Scratch Ankle, Ala., you'll
most likely need a telephone system.
That could change. Cometa Networks, a consortium of AT&T, IBM and Intel,
promises to build 20,000 hotspots by the end of 2004. Cometa is a
wholesaler; it plans to sell the hotspots to retailers. It has a pilot
program at 10 McDonald's restaurants in Manhattan. There, you get an hour of
Internet access with
an Extra Value Meal. Other companies also have announced big plans.
Boosters talk of wall-to-wall Wi-Fi someday. "Someday" is the operative
word; hotspots can be few and far between today.
5. You cannot secure Wi-Fi connections.
Wi-Fi has a security standard — Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP). WEP
encrypts data, but the key, which is used to encrypt and decrypt, is
relatively easy to break. An expert hacker snooping on you 10 feet away
could break your
encryption.
A new encryption standard, Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), is in the works. It
is expected to be much more secure than WEP.
Microsoft recently updated Windows XP to handle WPA. But Wi-Fi providers
still must implement WPA. T-Mobile is frank about warning that its data
signal is broadcast in the open and clear. Passwords and usernames are
encrypted. Other than that, you're on your own. T-Mobile encourages
customers to use virtual private networks (VPNs). VPNs are software programs
that use the Internet. But they are password-protected and use 128-bit
encryption, which is virtually unbreakable. Corporations usually set up VPNs,
which provide a secure tunnel into a company server. The data still could be
intercepted, but it would be unreadable without the encryption key.
Boingo Wireless also encourages customers to use a VPN. And it provides a
VPN for users who do not already have one, greatly enhancing security. The
Boingo VPN sends the encrypted data to a Boingo server, which decrypts it
and sends it to its destination over the Internet.
Small firms can buy VPN software to set up their own security. There are a
number of manufacturers, two of which are Watchguard Technologies and
SonicWALL. You could also use a product such as GoToMyPC, which does not
require software. Once set up, you have complete access to your office
computer from any computer with Internet access. You can check e-mail and
work on files, just like you were in the office. (Disclosure: GoToMyPC is a
sponsor of my weekly radio show. But I use GoToMyPC at home to get to my
office computer and I like it very much.)
6. Wi-Fi is geared for the more adept computer users.
Wi-Fi is not for the uninitiated. For example, Boingo customers cannot
access T-Mobile's network, or vice versa. That means when you travel, you
must carefully plan your Web jaunts. It's as if you had to sign up with
different telephone companies to be sure of having a connection. Boingo and
T-Mobile have begun working together. They plan to make mutual access
available someday. But that inconvenience is nothing compared to the
possibility
of being hacked. If you want to surf the Internet at an airport, you should
be OK. But someone nearby using specialized software could watch your
transmissions, unless you are using a VPN. Even using a password to enter
your
business or personal mailbox could be dangerous.
Only you can decide if Wi-Fi is safe enough for your situation. A huge
criminal business has been built on stolen identities. If you are
transmitting data in the clear, someone could be watching.
So the note here is to think and be careful. Wi-Fi, is it for you ?
Reprint by permission, Microsoft
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