Net Work or Not Working? Catching the Wireless Home Network Craze

by David Tenenbaum

Hate cables? Think one printer can do the work of two? Need fast Web access in many rooms, but only have a cable modem in one?

If you answer yes to any of these questions, you're the target market for a home wireless network. Primarily touted as a way to spread the advantages of a fast Internet connection (DSL--digital subscriber lines--or cable modem) throughout the house, they may also, if you are lucky, allow you to share files and printers.

Wireless networks rely on small send-and-receive radios, with all the advantages and disadvantages that implies. In other words, these radios can encounter interference from phones and other gadgets that share the radio spectrum. Depending on conditions, interference may reduce the speed--or cancel the signal entirely.

All this "convenience" comes at a cost, and we're not talking just money. We're talking about hours on hold at tech "support" lines. We're talking about the humiliation of phoning back and asking for another definition of "DHCP" (dynamic host configuration protocol). And we're talking about communications that are wide open to the snoops in the next apartment.

Yessiree Bob. You thought the computer industry had realized that high technology does not require one's hair to be torn out from the root? You thought it was finally accepting "user-friendly" as more than an empty slogan? You thought different products should work together?

Sorry. Selecting and configuring a wireless home network can be so tough, it could--gasp--make you long for the "good old days" of MS-DOS (Microsoft disk operating system) and the "gee, how do I copy a file again?" command-line interface.

Still, home networks have advantages. Depending on the gadgets you buy and your luck in getting them to talk to each other, you may be able to synchronize your Palm (Pilot) or Pocket PC (personal computer) without wires. You may be able to share files with your family. And you certainly should be able to kiss some cable clutter goodbye.

Those advantages explain why 4.5 million American homes are predicted to have wireless home networks by the end of the year.

But look before you plunge in without a wire. If you don't need to connect mobile devices, like laptops or cell phones, a wireless home network may be more costly and complicated than some alternatives (see sidebar).

If wireless still seems right, let's meet the two common systems available today:

Why WiFi

802.11b (aka "WiFi," or "AirPort" to Apple users).

This wireless technology can (theoretically) transfer 11 megabits per second, for up to (again, theoretically) 300 feet. You'll need to connect an "access point" to your cable modem or DSL line, and one WiFi (wireless fidelity) adapter on each computer. To share printers and files, you'll need a "router." With a combination access-point router, you can surf-Web and share-file. In the Apple world, the AirPort system handles both functions.

Advantages: Established technology, high capacity, long range. A good number of public areas, like cafés and libraries, already offer WiFi access.

Disadvantages: Harder to configure. Connection points can be bulky. Power-hungry, unsuitable for cell phones and PDAs (personal digital assistant).

Bluetooth blues

While WiFi focuses on computers, Bluetooth is for every gadget you own. Bluetooth is a short-range radio technology aimed at simplifying communications among 'Net devices and between devices and the Internet. The operating range is much shorter, but Bluetooth promises some real advantages, now that the gadgets are finally hitting the market. Bluetooth-equipped cell phones, for example, will work as modems for Bluetooth-equipped computers. Bluetooth-equipped radios can wirelessly feed Bluetooth-equipped headphones (although decent fidelity remains a distant dream). Bluetooth should allow your digital camera to send photos to your computer without so much as a cable.

Advantages: Easier to use and cheaper than WiFi, Bluetooth may be destined to become the network of choice for a huge variety of gadgets: computers, phones, appliances, thermostats, and a lot of stuff yet to be invented.

Disadvantages. Slow connection speed, shorter range.

Some things considered

• Built-in is better. An increasing number of devices come with WiFi or Bluetooth installed. You'll save on aggravation.
• Don't forget the little things. Firewall security programs on a computer may doom a network unless deactivated.
• Privacy. It doesn't take much to "hack" your way into wireless home networks. Bluetooth is designed to look for other Bluetooth devices, and neither it nor WiFi is anywhere near as secure as wired networks.
• Hassle: Is it really worth it? Or would you save aggravated hours by waiting until networking standards are more, well, standard?
• Compatibility. Apple computers, as usual, are easier to network, but newer versions of Windows have eliminated some of the nightmarish complications.
• Think long term: No matter which system you choose, you won't be able to switch without buying a new device for every connected gadget--not to mention suffering through the miseries of setup. And remember that things change fast: 802.11b already faces competition from 802.11a, a faster, more expensive, and only partly compatible standard.
  All this "convenience" comes at a cost.

Eventually, given the pace of change, it's likely that many technophiles will be using some sort of home-networking devices. But as with all things techie, it's the early adapters who pay the high prices and suffer the "version 1.0 blues."

In fact, networking can be so intimidating that drilling holes in your house and running cable seems sane in comparison!

Before you jump in, consider some final cautions:

• A new standard for broadband wireless may reach the market as early as next year. Like all the other technologies, it has advantages and disadvantages. At least, it promises advantages. You can bank on the disadvantages.
• Those distance claims are about as realistic as the size measurements on computer monitors, as you get interference from digital devices like cordless phones.
• Get used to waiting "in the queue" at technical support, at least while you configure your system.
• Count on learning more than you've ever wanted about computer networking.

Published September 23, 2002

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