W I R E L E S S S O C I E T Y
Wireless Pursuit
TRY IT AT HOME, AT WORK OR ON THE ROAD
By Wilson Rothman
November 3, 2003
Where does wi-fi sit on the winding road of wireless technologies?
Nicely in the middle. Unlike with cell phones, however, you can't
yet switch seamlessly from one wi-fi antenna to another
SHORT-RANGE RADIO
Typically found in a cordless computer mouse or keyboard sending
little bits of data. Must be near a receiver
INFRARED
Used in nearly every remote control on earth, this powerful
short-range system is also found in PDAs
BLUETOOTH
Short-distance radio popular in phones, headsets and, lately,
car speaker phones. It's also used in some computer devices
WIRELESS ETHERNET(WI-FI)
In a home, office or "hot spot," wi-fi allows Internet access
and creates networks of computers and printers
RANGE FINDER
Short-range radio
6 ft. to 20 ft.
Infrared
20 ft. to 50 ft.
Bluetooth
Up to 30 ft.
Wireless Ethernet (wi-fi)
Up to 300 ft.
CORDLESS PHONES
The cord on your home phone probably disappeared more than a
decade ago. Now some phones have ranges greater than 1 mile
FAMILY RADIO SERVICE
A good way to keep track of the kids at ski resorts and
amusement parks, these walkie-talkies stretch a low-powered
radio signal a long way
CITIZENS BAND
"Breaker, Breaker, what's your 20?" A radio so popular it spawned
a whole new vocabulary, CB remains a vital form of communication
MOBILE-PHONE NETWORKS
Cellular phones have a wide reach, but call congestion and
obstacles like buildings and trees often force carriers to
build extra towers
SPACE AND BEYOND
From 22,000 miles out in space, satellites beam TV, radio and
phone signals to nearly the entire planet
RANGE FINDER
Cordless phones
500 ft. to 7,000 ft.
Family radio service
Up to 3 miles
Citizens band Up to 5 miles
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