By Ron Diemicke
Imagine being in the student center during lunch working on the next term paper for English on the laptop. Then the cell phone rings. The call is from a friend saying to open the e-mail immediately because there’s a large file to download that has sources to help with the term paper. Without using Ethernet wires, the downloads happen and there are more sources for the term paper. Even in the Student Center, there is the ability to check e-mail and use the Internet without wires with the invention of Wi-Fi.
Wi-Fi makes the Internet, which is a great and wondrous invention already, even better. Right now, most computers connect to the Internet through hard-wire lines that connect to modems, which in turn, link to the Internet through either telephone or cable lines. Wi-Fi aims to remove the hard-line necessary for the computer to connect to the Internet. Wi-Fi equipment transfers the packets of information that normally would go over a wire, through radio signals.
Providers who wish to provide wireless Internet need a transmitter, otherwise known as a base station, access port or “hotspot”. These access ports are connected to an Internet location and broadcast a signal looking for machines with wireless access cards to respond. The signal connects the machine to the Internet. Some access ports and “hotspots” work different then others, but they only have a small variation between them. To use the access port, the computer must have a wireless access card. Most new laptops and PDAs have them built in. If one has an older laptop or PDA, chances are that he can add functionality through a PCMCIA add-on card.
Austin Walker, an undecided freshman, has much experience with the Wi-Fi technology by using it at home, and more recently on campus.
“I’ve been using Wi-Fi for the past year or two I guess. I got a Siemens wireless hub for my house and I had a laptop that had a Wi-Fi card in it and it’s been amazing,” Walker said. “At home I was using it and I got so used to it.”
Currently, Wi-Fi is expanding outside of users who extensively use the Internet and want it throughout their home without the wires. Companies are using it to bring in new business users, but it’s becoming even more popular for personal use as its availability increases. Starbuck’s offers wireless Internet in some of its stores through T-Mobile at six dollars a day and around $30 to $40 per month. The shops which Starbuck’s offer this service can be found at their web site http://www.starbucks.com/retail/wireless.asp. Verizon is also catching on through an initiative started last year to bring 1,000 hotspots to New York City. These hotspots are free for their DSL users to use and you can find a list of their locations at http://www.verizon.net/wifi/. Another good site to find access points all over the world is http://www.jiwire.com/. The web site lists wireless access points in airports, hotels and other establishments. More business and food service chains are putting in Wi-Fi all around the country, especially in New York City.
How does this affect the average University student though? The University has many wireless hotspots on campus. A student with a laptop has options where to go to use Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi is perfect when someone is bothered by his roommate, the labs are packed at peak periods of the semester or when a student needs some alone time to work. Currently, there are hotspots in the lower, first, second, ninth and tenth floors of the Axinn Library, in the study area outside of Hammer computer lab and all of Hagedorn hall. Areas that are planned to have Wi-Fi include Memorial Hall’s Bits and Bytes, all open areas of C.V. Starr hall, the rest of the Axinn library and various areas of the Student Center.
“When I came to college this past fall, I was just devastated that on campus there was no Wi-Fi,” Walker said. “Luckily, Wi-Fi has been activated all around campus. In my dorm, my suitemate picked up a hub, so I’m back with Wi-Fi, it’s amazing.”
Multiple users have the ability to connect to a hub without needing any rather expensive Ethernet wires. This is especially useful for homeowners, including the Walker household.
“It gives you more freedom than you thought you had and your laptop is that much more useable you can go to the cafeteria, eat lunch and do work without being anywhere near an Ethernet port,” Walker said.
Although the University lists the Student Center on the “coming soon” list of locations that might feature wireless, it’s already working in some parts, most notably the back cafeteria and the game room.
“I’d rather be on the couch in the game room and be online, then be next to a wall in an uncomfortable chair; I like being able to eat dinner while I’m online in the back cafeteria.” Walker said.