terms, that would be about a year.
When I purchased my first wireless router, I said: wow, this is cool. Then,
as I used it, I became less impressed. Internet access from anywhere in the
home without running wires sounded like a convenient and inexpensive way to
expand my connection; however, convenience has its price.
Developers quickly identified the weaknesses in the 802.11b wireless
standard early on. Yet, it sold like hotcakes. Now consumers have the option
of going with the latest and greatest standard: 802.11g. This standard
supports more than twice the speed of the older "b" standard.
To keep this simple, the only two standards the home user needs to be
concerned with are "b" and "g". The "b" standard is the old standard. It
claims to provide 11Mbps (million bits per second) throughput. The new "g"
standard claims a maximum throughput of 54Mbps.
Speed:
Did you notice I used the word "claim"? The claim is really a theoretical
number, and you can forget about ever getting this speed from your wireless
device. So let's look at some real-world numbers.
802.11 Max theoretical Distance/feet Approx. real
----------------------------------------------------
802.11b 11Mbps 3 5.1Mbps
30
1Mbps
100
50Kbps
802.11g 54Mbps 3 17.5Mbps
30
10Mbps
100
2Mbps
Note: the above is the best case scenario. This means that your PC is within
a few feet (dare is say inches?) of your wireless router with no
interference, no obstacles, and no security enabled---hardly real-world,
right? The numbers get worse, so keep reading.
Note: These are not my numbers. This data is according to a white paper
written by Atheros Communications, Inc. (a developer and manufacturer of
wireless chips).
Range:
The above numbers do not include one of the biggest determining factors of
wireless speed: distance. The advertised operational distance is in the
hundreds of feet. In fact, I read one claim that said the operating distance
for a wireless b device was 500 feet. This is laughable! Typically, your
computer can be approximately 75 feet away from your wireless router using
the line-of-sight scenario with no interference.
Obstacles:
Add a few obstacles to your wireless networking environment and you can
begin to see the true limitations of wireless. For example, if your wireless
router and your PC are separated by 4 or more walls/ceilings, then the data
transfer drops to almost zero! If have a network in place that proves this
statement wrong, then consider yourself lucky.
The distance can be as little as 30 feet (line-of-sight) of separation, but
if your router tries to penetrate too many walls, you'll find yourself
cursing inanimate objects. Here are a few compounds wireless (or more
specifically Radio Frequency) has a hard time penetrating. Generally, the
denser the material, the harder to penetrate:
BRICK, METAL, LEAD and CINDER
For best results, Linksys recommends the following:
Place your router as high as possible. If you have a multi-level home, place
the router on the top floor.
If you want to use a wireless connection outside, place your router near a
window.
Keep your router away from metal objects, TVs, monitors, filing cabinets,
etc.
Interference:
The 802.11b and g standards use a transmission frequency of 2.4GHz. This is
the same frequency of many cordless phones and microwave ovens. Interference
with these devices will literally disconnect from the network. One minute
you're surfing the Web, and the next minute you find yourself wondering what
happened to your browser when it displays "The page cannot be displayed".
Security:
Here's something that everyone wants---to browse the Web without having to
worry about losing their identity or inadvertently providing someone with
private information. Today, there are several ways to secure your wireless
connection. However, like with most forms of security, there is no
fool-proof method out there.
Enabling security on your wireless network is a good thing, but it comes at
a performance cost. Most users are more than willing to pay this cost, but
consider the following:
According to Interlink Networks (a developer of security software for Wi-Fi
networks), a professional hacker can break "most" WEP (Wired Equivalent
Privacy) networks in 5 minutes.
Not to over-analyze this claim, but what percentage of the population in the
US are "professional" hackers? The word professional implies that this elite
group of people gets paid to hack. If this is their profession, how likely
is it that they will try to hack into your system without an invitation? The
thrill, the money---oops, that's right they get paid.
Also, what are "most" WEP networks? Do they mean that there are some they
can't crack in 5 minutes? What makes the "few" other WEP networks harder to
break into? Perhaps, they are alluding to the different WEP encryption
levels: 40, 64 or 128 bit.
My point about security:
Although I can appreciate those who are concerned about security, I'm not
quite sure I feel the same way. If you connect to a corporate office via
your wireless connection, then you are most likely using a VPN (Virtual
Private Network) solution provided by your company. VPNs are secure
connections already; you don't need WEP or another type of security to
secure a connection.
Where is the threat?
I find it interesting when I'm asked to disinfect a system full of Spyware
and viruses that was connected to a tightly secured wireless network. Sure,
the threat between a PC and a wireless router spanning maybe 100 feet with a
dozen (neighbors) or so potential hackers is minimal, but yet the system is
completely exposed to millions of Internet hackers world-wide.
In short, the real threat to your identity is not your wireless encryption
level, but rather the other thousands of Malware (Malicious Software) we are
subject to as member of the Internet community.
Having said this, for those who still feel uncomfortable with wireless
security and don't mind paying for the slight performance hit, I recommend
enabling WEP with 128-bit encryption. If you are like me, and are not too
worried about wireless security, then disable SSID (Secure Set Identifier)
broadcasting and enable MAC (Media Access Control) filters. The other more
secure security measure now available with wireless is WPA (Wi-Fi Protected
Access). However, there is addition cost for more security in the form of
performance.
Wireless Fan:
As you might have guessed by now, I'm not a big wireless technology fan.
Maybe I'm old-school, but I prefer wires any day of the week. Wires with
today's technology can provide secure, reliable connection speeds of
up-to1Gbps (Yes, 1 billion bits per second).
If you are in the process of building a new home, don't even hesitate to
install Category 6 wiring to every room in your home before the sheetrock
goes up. This will not only provide every room with a connection to the
Internet, but it will also prepare you for the ever growing future
entertainment products on the market today like Media Centers. To give you
an idea, the difference wire is several hundred times faster than wireless.
Of course, this doesn't mean much to those who use their wireless connection
only to surf the Internet. Your speed will ultimately be limited to the
bandwidth your service provider allows. This number is typically between
128Kbps and 3Mbps. Yet, if security is your number one concern and you live
in an apartment complex with many neighbors you don't know or can trust,
then wires is another strong reason to abandon wireless.
So although I'm not a "big" fan of wireless, I am a little fan of it. I have
a wireless network installed in my home, and use it primarily for my
children and casual Internet browsing on my laptop. I don't use it to pay my
bills or purchase things---not because I'm worried about security, but
rather because I'm worried about a reliable connection. As soon as the
microwave goes on, my connection is lost.
Wireless Future:
The future for wireless is getting faster, however. There is a new standard
coming out called the 802.11n standard. This standard promises a measured
(not theoretical) speed of 41Mbps at 60 feet. The mission is to exceed a
real-world usable speed of 100Mbps. I'll be looking for this to come out in
2006. In the meantime, get wired! You won't regret it.
Wired:
For less than the cost of a new PC, I can help you get your home wired. I
work with licensed and bonded low-voltage wiring contractors that can turn
your home into a high-speed home network. If you have more than one
computer, there is nothing like challenging your friend to play a little
Quake death-match on a high-speed LAN. No more waiting and searching for a
fast "ping time" on the Internet. Play multiplayer games they way they were
intended---fast and responsive.
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