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INTERACTIVE AGENCY
Posts Aboutwireless
Sprint AIRAVE
Ok… so we haven’t had the best of luck with Sprint (see here, and here) and while our company is slowly moving toward AT&T due to “some device” that came out in the last few months, I do have to hand it to Sprint for be one of the first companies to actually release a “why hasn’t somebody thought of this sooner” product.
What Is Sprint AIRAVETM?
Sprint AIRAVETM is a device that creates a CDMA signal for your mobile phone (like a miniature cell tower). AIRAVE provides enhanced and reliable mobile phone coverage in your house or office even if your existing wireless coverage is poor.
Seagate’s Portable WiFi / Bluetooth HD Solution: DAVE
A few days ago, Seagate released a statement about some new technology that they have dubbed “DAVE” (Digital Audio Video Experience).
From the release:
Using Bluetooth or WiFi connections, DAVE is the answer to providing substantial storage capacity without impacting the design or cost of mobile handsets. Built for portability and about the size of a centimeter-thick credit card, the DAVE mobile platform slips conveniently into a shirt pocket, backpack, or purse - anywhere up to 30 feet (9.1 meters) from the phone. In addition, the mobile storage platform is open source, enabling third party software developers to create new applications for the mobile phone utilizing the hard drive’s unmatched capacity and performance. The DAVE technology is offered to telcos and mobile handset OEMs for sale under their respective brand names.
US Municipalities Offering Free Wi-Fi
My hometown of Madison, WI has just announced that they’ll be rolling out a free Wi-Fi network to the whole city. They join just a few other cities nationwide (San Francisco and Philadelphia included) to move in this direction.
While I’m all for the offering of free internet, I continue to be a little weary of the possible issues involving safety and privacy with a wide open system. Additionally, I also wonder what the impact of an open Wi-Fi network will do to both the ISP’s in the area, as well as the cellular companies who are hoping that their EVDO technology (wireless broadband) takes off to become the industry standard. I guess time will tell what impact these remarkable decisions will make.
Free Neighborhood Wi-Fi
Everyone wants city-wide wireless, but it just ain’t happening yet :) Somewhere, somebody has to get paid. Until then, we must depend on innovative inventors such as John Geraci to bring us free wireless. Geraci, inventor of Neighbornode, came up with a genius idea of sharing his Wi-Fi Internet with others while also promoting ‘community’.
Anyone with a broadband connection can start a Neighbornode. When someone uses the node to access the Web, he is first directed to a home page with a message board, classified section and photo page to help locals recognize one another.
vonage, linksys promotion
Linksys is running a promotion along with Vonage which looks to be a pretty good deal, if you’ve been wanting to try out Vonage’s service anyway:
Vonage and router-manufacturer Linksys have partnered to create what they hope will be an offer customers can’t refuse. Starting on June 12, and for six weeks after, consumers will be able to trade in any router for one of Linksys’ Wireless-G routers with two phone ports for VOIP for free after-rebates, when signing up for Vonage’s phone service.
Gartner Wireless recommendations
Gartner recently restated their recommendations for wireless deployment:
Last October, Gartner changed its overall recommendation for basic WLAN technology from 802.11b only to 802.11a/g. In a session today, Gartner restated its position on which physical standards should be selected for notebooks and access points.
Notebooks, which tax networks the most with bandwidth needs, should be moved to 5GHz using 802.11a. 802.11g is not recommended as a sole strategy because it operates in a band (2.4 GHz) that is increasingly crowded due to its backward compatibility with 801.11b, said the Gartner analyst .
wimaxcoop
This is fantastic news — a cooperative has been started in Nashville called WimaxCoop to serve as an advocate for consumer broadband wireless access:
Wimaxcoop will help communities and businesses take control of their broadband by using the cooperative as a legal form to pool resources for Wimax installation. In an effort to explore novel means by which consumers efficiently access broadband services a group in Nashville has started a wireless cooperative. Its also a possible counter to the recent spate of lawsuits against municipalities trying to offer broadband to their business districts.
E1/T1 over WiMax?
From the EE Times:
MANHASSET, N.Y. — Zarlink Semiconductor and Wavesat announced they have successfully tested the transmission of E1 and T1services over a WiMAX broadband access network, using Zarlink’s packet switching technology.
…
“Combining our WiMAX chipset and Zarlink’s ZL50120 CESoP processor will allow operators to carry circuit-switched voice and T1/E1 services over WiMAX IP networks, avoiding the need for a costly access line for legacy services,” said Michel Guay, president and chief executive of Wavesat, in a statement.
