Devangshu Datta: Wirelessly wired to the max

TECHNO BEAT

An Indian student at an English university recently had a spot of bother with the constabulary. He was found at 0300 hours sitting in a moonlit field with a laptop. He said he was a student, a resident of the college visible on the edge of the field. And, he claimed to be surfing the Internet.

The English policemen refused to believe him. Being comparatively cyber-savvy, they pointed out he couldn't be on the Net without a cellphone handy. Ergo, he must have stolen the laptop (his dark clothes and the hour may have triggered this leap of logic).

Our hero stuttered out an explanation of Wi-Fi but the coppers let him go only after a very sleepy professor vouched for him. They also watched an impromptu demo of Wi-Fi before wandering off, marvelling.

In a Wi-Fi hotspot, anybody who switches on a Wi-Fi-enabled device receives Net access, with an extremely fast connection. Some network providers charge, many don't. Companies, universities, government offices, airports, railways stations, and so on, all install Wi-Fi networks and leave them open for passerbys.

It costs less to be generous. It is a messy job securing a Wi-Fi network while allowing multitudes of people to use it in passing doesn't make much difference. Data transfer speed slows down more due to distance rather than network crowding.

Even as far away as 100 metres from an access point, in a flat, open area, the user might get a 1 Mbps connection. Near an access point, it could be as high as 11 Mbps.

Wi-Fi is a low-power, short-range technology, open to interference. The next thing in wireless could be "Wi-Max", which has greater range (several km), better encryption and interference protection. But Wi-Max costs over 10 times as much as Wi-Fi.

People near hotspots are developing creative uses for them. In downtown metro areas, on wired campuses, and in "smart" cities like Orlando, Florida or Singapore, a mesh of hotspots has caused viral changes in cyber-culture.

"War-driving" has become a new geek recreation. People drive around with a laptop and a packet-sniffer. The sniffer is a software utility that finds Wi-Fi networks. A sniffer combined with a global positioning device maps access points.

War-drivers create hotspot lists and sometimes leave graffiti at access-points as user-guides. Some companies have started using hotspots for promos by delivering "welcome to the ABC Corp network" messages.

In a couple of US universities, music downloads at very reduced rates are offered on the campus Wi-Fi networks. The cheap songs won't play off the network. It's an interesting, if partial, solution to file-sharing.

Wireless gaming is another entertainment option and so are "silent discos". High data speeds make rich audio-visual content delivery possible. In a hotspot, everyone can put on wireless phones and listen to music or play interactive games with other users.

The entertainment industry and event managers might find this a godsend in urban zones with noise-pollution laws. Live concerts where the audience wears wireless headphones are being experimented with. The "silent disco" will go mainstream at the Glastonbury Festival this year.

For municipalities, Wi-Fi might be the best option in terms of broadband access. Wi-Fi doesn't require digging or expensive subscription patterns. To put a citywide mesh in place cost just Rs 10 lakh per square km in cities like Philadelphia and New Orleans. One US service provider estimated that just 2,000 subscribers at $ 16 per month paid for a 25-square km network in three years.

A wired city has enormous service delivery benefits. A Wi-Fi public safety video surveillance system in New Orleans reduced murder rates by 57 per cent, and auto-theft by 25 per cent in six months. Police can improve reaction time due to easy access to HQ and databases. Wi-Fi based meter-reading systems can scan as many as 70 water meters or power meters every second.

As Wi-Fi catches on, more uses will be found and more innovative revenue models developed. What we need in India now is enabling legislation to ensure that the 2.4 GHz band where Wi-Fi operates, is intelligently regulated.