By WILSON ROTHMAN	Email this article to a friend

May 19, 2003

An Intel engineer examines a   prototype computer that uses new   chips and other elements of the   firm's Centrino Wi-Fi technology LENNY GONZALEZ FOR TIME

Last night I dreamed of a wireless world. My laptop could connect to the Web virtually anywhere in the U.S. without cables or dialing up. No more worrying about plugs or software or, most importantly, the service itself. That's the way the future should be. But that's not the future we'll get using only Wi-Fi, which is too limited in range, and doesn't follow you as you travel. The technology that will allow us to log on anytime, anywhere without cords is called wide-area wireless, and it could deliver high-speed wireless data service from the same towers that your mobile phone now uses for voice, e-mail and messaging.

Although Wi-Fi basks in the warm glow of the media while many of America's mobile-phone service providers have yet to announce next generation wide-area data networks, the situation is not as cut and dry as it might seem. The truth is, Wi-Fi may well just be an interim fix until the national broadband wireless networks go up. Still more likely, Wi-Fi will serve as a high-speed location-specific complement to slower yet more ubiquitous data nets.

What Wi-Fi lacks is a roaming component. In spite of the cell-phone carrier price wars of the 1990s, the real benefit to consumers came when carriers signed national roaming agreements. Finally, users could wander from one end of the country to the other without paying extra — or caring whose network they were on. Wi-Fi technology doesn't support several competing networks in the same space — i.e. Starbucks can only offer T-Mobile's service — so if roaming deals aren't made, subscribers to other services might have to look elsewhere for Net access — and chai lattes.

Wi-Fi hotspots by nature require the cooperation of a number of parties and services. A service provider not only shares income with the hotspot's landlord, but it may have to pay a third party for the physical Internet connection: behind every wireless access point is a broadband connection such as DSL, cable or T1. (Though Wi-Fi allows for data transfer at up to 11 megabits per second, the landline bottleneck reduces surfing speeds to around 1 Mbps.)

There are some other technological problems as well, such as security and interference with other networks or devices that use 2.4GHz radio frequencies. While some issues will improve over time, others will not. Unlike cellular technology, which can route your call from one tower to the next as you drive down the highway, Wi-Fi wasn't designed to hand a user off from one access point to another. And current Wi-Fi access points have a maximum range of about 300 feet.

Still, Wi-Fi is fast and cheap to set up, and meets a growing demand — at least in densely populated areas. T-Mobile may have been the first cell-phone carrier to champion Wi-Fi, but both AT&T Wireless and Verizon Wireless have announced relationships with WayPort, a provider currently boasting hotspots in over 500 hotels and 10 airports. Within a year, both Sprint PCS and Cingular will offer customers a Wi-Fi option as well.

Carriers aren't abandoning their own plans for high-speed wireless data, however. AT&T and Cingular plan to go ahead with their next phase, called EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution), a relatively inexpensive network upgrade which would more than triple the average wireless data rate of 40 kilobits per second. While 150 Kbps may be one-tenth the speed offered at some Wi-Fi hotspots, it would be available nationwide on the GSM/GPRS network. AT&T and Cingular say that they'll be ready to offer the services by early next year; T-Mobile, which uses the same mobile technology, also has EDGE intentions but no announced rollout schedule.

One gripe about these data networks is that your laptop needs a special card to access one. Hardware makers are developing PC cards for laptops that handle both wire-area cellular data and Wi-Fi, though since Wi-Fi cards are cheaper, and many laptops have built-in Wi-Fi, hybrid cards may not be necessary. In addition to hardware, software is a concern for carriers that want to distinguish themselves by providing ease of use. They're currently looking for a seamless transition for computers and handhelds that move from Wi-Fi to the EDGE or the next-generation 1xEV network during a session.

Software to manage this handoff is the key to the equation. The best situation is one where your computer will just hop on an available network and spare you the gory networking details — so long as you've paid your monthly fee. Then, my dream of a world without wires will finally come true.

		Wi-Fi				Wide-Area Wireless
		Maximum Range
		Wi-Fi access point 300 feet				Digital cell site 12 miles
		Data Rates
		11 megabits per second max (although on average it's closer to 1 Mbps, as the speed of the landline connection determines actual performance)				EDGE (AT&T Wireless and Cingular): average 125 to 150 kilobits per second 1xEV (Verizon Wireless and Sprint PCS): average 600 to 800 Kbps
		Cost Of Hardware
		$50 to $60 PC card, soon to be integrated into most store-bought laptops				$200 or more, based on pricing of current mobile-data PC cards
		Size Of Network
		Several access points can be deployed in one location (airport or hotel)				Potentially seamless nationwide coverage
		When Is It Available?
		Right now, with thousands of hotspots to be added by early next year				EDGE will be nationwide next year. It may take years for 1xEV and other comparably high-speed networks to go live coast to coast

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