Why the world of Wi-Fi is nigh

No, it isn't a mis-spelling. Wi-Fi is fast becoming the "must have" of 2004.

Short for Wireless Fidelity, the term is used generically when referring to any type of 802.11 wireless network, whether 802.11b, 802.11a or 802.11g (the fastest).

In plain English, Wi-FI is a high-speed, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) that allows PCs, Macs, PDAs and other computers to talk to each other and the internet without a hard-wired connection.

The system works via radio waves in the 2.4GHz spectrum, which means small antennas, short range, but fast throughout. In terms of speed, the latest 802.11g Wi-Fi systems can run at up to 54Mbps (Mega bits per second). In real terms, that means you can you pass a 1Mb digital image to a colleague across a wireless network in less than one second. That's fast!

But that's only the start of it. Connect your Wi-Fi router/access point to a broadband internet connection and you can surf the web, send and receive e-mails, or listen to Smooth Jazz radio from Monterey, California wherever your laptop happens to be sitting - as long as you are less than 100m away from the access point.

If this is getting you excited, then you will soon be reaching for your credit card. Popping up all over the world are Wi-Fi "hotspots" - places where you can use your laptop or PDA to connect to the net at broadband speeds, some of them for free.

Airports, railway stations, hotels, pubs and shopping malls are all cottoning on to the power of Wi-Fi.

I have surfed the web from my laptop in Singapore airport and from a hotel room in the USA for about £3 an hour.

You will soon be able to surf the net from some GNER and Virgin trains. In the air, services like Boeing's Connexion, already available on some trans-Atlantic Lufthansa flights, are showing airlines the way forward.

Currently, there are more than 8,500 hotspots in Europe, and the number is expected to grow to 70,000 by 2008. Latest figures from analysts IDC predict the number of global Wi-Fi hotspots will increase from 50,000 in 2003 to 85,000 in 2004.

You can search for hotspots in the UK at http://www.zdnet.co.uk/specials/wifimap/ or globally at http://www.hotspot-locations.com/.

By summer 2004, BT Openzone alone plans to boost its current 1,700 public hotspots to 4,000. Visit http://www.btopenzone.com and you can search for local hotspots via location or postcode, or download a whole list. The connection costs are typically £6 an hour, or £15 per day.

When out and about your laptop or PDA can search for a hot spot in your vicinity. You then log on using the password given to you and surf away. The throughput is fast - much, much faster than a dial-up modem and potentially faster than the broadband connection the wireless access point is actually connected to.

This has barely scratched the surface of Wi-Fi, but I hope it has whetted your appetite.

FAQs

Q. Will Wi-Fi work on my Mac/PC/Yamahonduki?A. Probably. Wi-Fi adapters come in a number of different formats, including PCMCIA for laptops and PCI cards for desktop machines. You can also connect to a wireless network via an Ethernet (networking) cable, but that rather defeats the object. Some Macs have their own AirPort card, which is Wi-Fi compatible, and Mac OS X has built-in Wi-Fi support. Microsoft Windows 98 and XP both support Wi-Fi cards.

Q. How much will all this cost?
A. The cost is falling. A Wi-Fi card for laptop costs less than £50, the same for a desktop machine. A broadband wireless router/access point costs about £100.

Q. Is it easy to set up?
A. It should be relatively painless. If all goes well it is a five-minute job, but if you hit a snag be prepared to become an instant expert on IP addresses, DHCP and other gobbledygook.

Q. I live in the Styxx. Does this mean I now get broadband wireless internet?
A. Nope. You generally have to within about 100m of a wireless access point or "hotspot". Some communities have clubbed together to set-up their own wireless communities though.

Q. Can I just wander into my local airport and start surfing the web for free?
A. If it is a free hotspot, then yes. More likely, you will have to pay for a scratch card that gives you a password to log on to the WLAN. Typically it is going to cost you about £3 an hour or £15 a day. Alternatively, sign-up with a service like T-Mobile HotSpot and you can use any of its HotSpots (there are thousands in Starbucks coffee shops around the world) for around $29.99 a month.

Q. Where is this all going?
A. Convergence is the word. Soon your single phone/PDA/camera will let you surf the net wirelessly wherever you are in the world. Don't believe me? Then take a look at the latest Wi-Fi enabled HP iPAQ Pocket PC h5550 pocket computer - a snip at less than £450.