Wireless LANs: No longer local

1
Wireless LANs No longer local

• David Strom
• Comdex 2002 Vegas
• EM2 11/18 1 pm

2
My wireless background

• One of the first to use wireless email in 1992
• Have tried numerous phones, pagers, and other
  wireless devices
• Installed many wireless LANs in homes and offices
  for my second book on home networking
• Tested emerging technologies for over a decade
• Have gone back to non-data cellphone for now

3
Panel

• Inder Gopal, CEO ReefEdge
• Aaron Dobrinsky, CEO GoAmerica
• Andrew Weinreich, CEO Joltage

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Tried and true

• IR (anyone still use this?)
• 802.11b (Starbucks, homes, etc.)
• Bluetooth in Europe only
• And course, lots of cellphones

5
Nearly there

• 802.11xxx (new chips, new access points, new
  combo products)
• Bluetooth (everywhere but Europe)
• Wireless security appliances
• 3G/GPRS/Javaphones

6
Wireless enterprise issues

• Site specific deployment still a problem dead
  spots, poor coverage areas, etc.
• Enables too much multitasking -- how about
  getting rid of unneeded meetings?
• No one turns on security -- STILL!

7
Wireless LAN security loopholes

• Do you even know if wLANs are running?
• NetStumbler.com the first of many
• New comml products like AirMagnet
• Best to make use of appliances like BlueSocket,
  ReefEdge, Vernier, others

8
Early wireless mistakes

• ATT PocketNet phones
• Pre-Blackberry RIM devices
• Just about anything from pre-2000 Motorola
• Samsung i300 Palm Phone

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What they had in common

• Too heavy to cart around
• Battery life in minutes, let alone all day
• Data speeds were terrible
• Too many keystrokes to input even the shortest
  messages
• Cant use multiple modes to do common tasks (like
  copy a phone number down)

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Lets hear from our panel

• What is the state of the wireless market today?
• How will the wireless user experience improve?
• Will anything other than 802.11b become popular
  and why?
• Is there hope for doing data on our phones?