[Ham-Mac] WiFi

[Don Agro]

Hi David,

on 2/18/02 12:02 PM, David Allred at allred@photoninc.com wrote:

> The Seattle group is using off-the-shelf 802.11b hardware (mostly). And i=
t
> seems that their primary interest is "free wireless Internet for everybod=
y."

That's pretty much what I figured.

> While I do applaud initiative and resourcefulness, there seems to be a fe=
w
> fundamental disconnects in the group thinking. What they think they are
> getting for free, and how they can build huge networks, never seem to get=
 in
> the way of their ideals.

Sadly, they will get all the attention. TAPR's hard work and innovation
isn't news, but another slacker generation rip-off is :)

> One last question: What is "WiFi?" This has shown up in the popular press=
, but
> I have never seen it defined. Since this thread started with "WiFi" as a
> subject, perhaps we could get a definition.

WiFi is just a name for the 802.11b standard.

>From <http://www.un-wired.co.uk/acatalog/usl_news_2000_03.html>

"WECA Has a New 'Wi-Fi' Certification 16/03/00=A0 WECA announced a new 'Wi-Fi=
'
certification as a way to guarantee cross-vendor compatibility.=A0 The
year-old standards body, know as WECA, announced Wednesday that it has
created an interoperability test that will ensure wireless hardware using
the 802.11b standard for radio frequency communications is compatible.=A0
Devices adhering to the 802.11b standard sport a bandwidth of 11Mbps, which
can move close to 1MB of data per second between two PCs, according to
WECA.=A0 Products that pass the WECA test will be stamped with a WECA seal of
approval, called WiFi (pronounced Y-Phi) for "wireless fidelity." The stamp=
,
WECA hopes, will help consumers identify products that are interoperable,
thus making the decision to purchase that much easier.=A0 For consumers, WiFi
certification will mean that a wide array of wireless LAN cards and base
stations will be compatible straight out of the box. That means one of Appl=
e
Computer Inc.'s (Nasdaq:AAPL - news) iBook portables equipped with its
wireless LAN cards would be able to communicate with a wireless network
based on hardware from Cisco's Aironet division. Or two notebook PCs with
different wireless LAN cards could share files.=A0 Today, wireless LAN cards
and base stations from different vendors that use 802.11b are not able to
communicate out of the box. A base station, such as Apple's Airport,
connects multiple PCs using wireless LAN cards to a physical network. The
test provided by WECA would require vendors to change certain device
settings in order to allow the devices to communicate.=A0 "We say this is the
configuration you should ship (hardware) in the default mode," said Jim
Zyren, senior manger, strategic marketing at WECA member Intersil. Intersil
Corp. manufactures chips used in wireless LAN products.=A0 PC makers such as
Dell Computer Corp. (Nasdaq:DELL - news) and Compaq Computer Corp. (NYSE:CP=
Q
- news) have fielded their own wireless offerings. Dell, for example, offer=
s
wireless LAN cards to go with its notebook PCs. These PC makers, as well as
IBM, are WECA members, meaning -- at least in theory -- that their hardware
will soon be WiFi-compatible.=A0 Other vendors can get in on the WiFi action,
too. A firmware upgrade, at most, should bring existing wireless LAN cards
and base stations up to spec, so that they will be compatible with other
makers' devices, according to WECA. These upgrades will be offered by
participating members on their own schedules.=A0 WECA members include Cisco,
3Com, Lucent Technologies, Symbol Technologies, Nokia, Philips, Fujitsu,
Sony, Siemens, Advanced Micro Devices, Samsung, Telxon and Wayport, among
others."



Cheers,
Don Agro VE3VRW

D o g   P a r k   S o f t w a r e   L t d .
 =20
email: dagro@dogparksoftware.com
  www: http://www.dogparksoftware.com