A Florida company is claiming to have developed a new wireless VOIP service to compete directly with cellular providers. The new proprietary technology called xMax claims to offer the cost of setting up a base station to be in the thousands, not the millions currently costing cellular providers. Scant of details and lack of testing,… Continue Reading
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A Tale Of Two WiMax Rollouts
WiMax; to stay fixed or to roam. Fixed WiMax is set to hit London in a big way and shows how much growth WiMax still has to make before it hits the big time. Right now fixed (where the customer installs an antenna on thier building) is about the only way WiMax can be profitable… Continue Reading
Platform Aids Location-Aware Wi-Fi Applications
Application vendor Newbury has released a new product to make it easier for enterprises to leverage positional data on thier WiFi clients. The software allows network owners to track the location of clients through a number of AP’s and can launch location specific services based on that location. The system can also track the location… Continue Reading
How Will We Converge Wi-Fi And Cellular?
Now that the buzzword of convergance of WiFi and cellular is going full steam the question now seems to be ‘who owns the talk time?’. If I have a cell phone and am using the cellular network, it’s easy to bill me for the talk time. If I’m at my home or business using the… Continue Reading
Use Wi-Fi — Go Straight To Jail
After Illinois fined David M. Kauchak $250 for illegally accessing a wireless network, the question is raised; is a fine and possible jail time the proper thing to do? At the very least this sends the message that innocuous surfing on someone elses connection is against the law and there are consiquiences. It’s also a… Continue Reading
Illinois WiFi Freeloader Fined US$250
An Illinois man was fined $250 for accessing a wireless network that was not his own. While there have been other convictions fire theft of services, this is the first citation with a fine on record. While a fine for just ‘freeloading’ on a network makes more sense than jail time, it is very hard… Continue Reading
Business Users Are Wary Of 802.11n
With the draft of 802.11n fresh off the presses, questions are already popping up about the usefulness of the technology, particularly in large, multi-AP environments like University campuses. There also seem to be some questions about the effects of 802.11n networks on existing b/g/a networks as wider 40Mhz channels might interfere with existing systems. Despite… Continue Reading
Total Wi-Fi Freedom
Laptops are beginning to arrive on the market with cellular data capabilities built in as well as WiFi. The idea is that the cellular service compliments WiFi in providing access away from the nearest coffee shop. The problem is that service is still expensive and the built in radios are tied to different carriers. Hopefully… Continue Reading
Nintendo Users Get Free Wi-Fi Downloads
Nintendo is partnering with BT openzone in the UK to setup WiFi hotspots in game retail stores for Nintendo DS users to download content, demo’s and promotional information. a Million subscribed Nintendo WiFi subscribers is quite the market base for this service. At the very least this proves that Wifi is becoming mainstream. Via [vnunet.com]… Continue Reading
Wi-Fi Providers Court Smaller Communities
Milpitas, California does’nt seem like a likely place but it is going to be one of the most unwired towns in the US. Smaller communities weem to have less problems with municipal WiFi plans and incumbant service providers don’t try to get in the way. Perhaps muni-WiFi needs to focus on the small towns first… Continue Reading
BellSouth Touts Wireless As A Broadband Backup
Bellsouth is pushing thier WiMax service, setup after Hurricane Katrina, as backup for broadband service in New Orleans. The $29.95 service is bundled with landline broadband service. Via [wirelessweek.com]… Continue Reading
Sprint Offshoot Tries Muni Wi-Fi
So the telco’s jump up and down and lobby states to pass laws prohibiting municipalities from offering Municipal Wifi themselves, but are more than happy to step up and do it themselves. Sprint’s offshoot, Embarq is testing a few sites in Henderson, Nevada after the city expressed interest in municipal wireless in October. Via [wi-fiplanet.com]… Continue Reading
Fixed WiMax To Slash 10Mbit/s WAN Costs
Urban WiMax is set to provide 250 London businesses with 10Mbit/sec service through thier fixed WiMax service. The company plans to undercut competing landline providers by up to 50% while also providing redundant internet connections through 2 different providers. Could there be a bandwidth price war in the near future if they are successful? Via… Continue Reading
Can Muni Wi-Fi Be Free?
Craig Settles, noted Muni-wireless pundit has released a study of proposed muni-wifiinstallations and has found that very few realize that at the end of the day, someone has to pay. Touting it at a ‘free network’ is just plain wrong as it eventually becomes a bait and switch with residents and constituents. Politicians think in… Continue Reading
Down To Business: The Economics Of Metro Wi-Fi
Will metro WiFi ever really work? Governments who have trouble filling potholes responsible for a bleeding edge technology? Some people see it as a blessing and others as a huge curse. The economics of who pays for what, and even logistics such as how much of how much of a downtown office building should be… Continue Reading