Of course wireless abilities do have its dis-advantages, but look at the advantages, they save money time and space, they may not be totllay reliable but hey, what ever is? Im not saying that I ‘War Drive/ walk’ but look at the minor advantages of doing so.

Wireless is a step further in Modern Technology, creating specific electrical devices, capable of wireless activities such as Bluetooth! What is a modern day mobile with-out bluetooth? Infrared is a huge advantage for remote activity, imagine using a remote with a wire (rhetorical question). Wi-Fi is just brilliant, I am not even going to describe the advantages for Wi-Fi, it makes the PSP a beauty.

That God for S & P waves!!!

7 letters – overair
6 characters – on-air
5 hieroglyphics – radio

The latter goes back even further than the 1960s, yet might work alright.

I’ll start this off simply so you can decide if you wish to hear my rant: I hate wireless.

I strongly feel that wireless technology still needs massive amounts of work before it should be advertised as a solution to everything. Now i work in a High School with about 270 computers, ranging from paperweight to a 3.0ghz cpu used for ringing up students in the cafeteria (technology usage at it’s best) I understand the usefulness of being able to walk around with a laptop, be browsing the internet, able to print their mildly-humorous distributed emails, and drink coffee at the same time.. don’t get me wrong, we all strive for such luxury.

First and foremost, wireless is broadcasting a signal to a perimeter, it is not like Scotty is beaming this data directly to your computer. And i’m just going to safely say that the mass majority of people who have set up home wireless networks do not understand what a ’secured’ wireless network is, or how to make their personal broadcast secure. Almost every time i’ve had my laptop handy, just for kicks i’ll search for an open network, and i’m rarely disappointed.

Next: At it’s BEST, the maximum bandwidth of a wireless connection is 54mbps, which is if you’re using 802.11a or 802.11g, and is literally unattainable due to hardware restrictions and other things like the computer’s operating system.
Since it’s wireless, and broadcasting a signal into space, you are in essence sharing 1 wired connection (the cable from the wall to the access point/switch) with everyone else who also uses that wireless router/access point. Now you might say “Well my wired network switch has multiple ports going out, isn’t that slowed down too?” And yes, it is.. but the 100mbps ceiling on wired network distributes faster, and is handled better, than a wireless switch ever could. (100mbps wired is also a theoretical maximum, and is also constrained by hardware and operating system limitations)

Still ranting: It’d also be one thing if people just wanted wireless internet connections, but people don’t stop there. As mentioned earlier, i work at a school, so naturally people want the “nicest” stuff they can get. Wireless keyboards and mice, wireless display devices for projectors, not to mention the personal wireless networks that come in from some of the local houses, (which i don’t get, i had to buy a repeater just to get the signal to cover my not-all-that-large home) all amount to more interference and more problems. Then let’s add in microwaves, vacuums, air conditioners.. how fast is that connection now?

Near or Far: Distance is key in wireless networks. It’s common sense that signal strength is going to be dependent on how close you are to the access point, but apparently there’s a problem with being too close to it as well.. so how far is too far? Within 5 feet is speculated to be bad due to collisions, it’s sending and receiving a signal within a small enough space it actually slows it down.. so to fix that you back away, which lowers signal and.. you guessed it, decreases performance and effectiveness.

(deep breath) So in short, if you worry that running a wire causes a risk of tripping because you forgot you ran the wire, you probably don’t deserve to be on the internet anyhow.

Here’s a direct website quote that sums it up: “Overall, the performance of 802.11a and 802.11g is sufficient for home Internet connection sharing and file sharing, but generally not sufficient for home LAN gaming. ”

That’s it from the Corral.
-Wyatt Earp

I don’t know anyone that can debate with any technical merit that Ozone was better.

But you all are really helping prove my point. The state of wireless gizmos and gadgets today is pitiful. Wireless products that suck are being rushed to the market and eroding consumer confidence in the technology in general. That doesn’t mean wireless technology sucks, just the products that they are currently shipping. I, for one, am not giving up on the idea of completely mobile electronics and connectivity. It would be foolish to do so. It is the future. The day I bought a laptop, the idea of a desktop computer suddenly became so outdated and limiting. The same will be true for all electronics.

And Chris, of course that Breakin’ album was strategically placed. I knew I could count on you to notice it. I figured the post was so boring that perhaps the commentary could degenerate into a discussion of who was a better breakdancer, Turbo or Ozone?

And we all try and stretch that timeframe of wirelessness to it’s maximum. Every time I go away for a weekend, I charge my phone in advance, just so I don’t have to burden myself with packing a charger around with me. After all, it isn’t really a vacation if there are wires involved.

And, as Krusty alluded to, are wires really that bad? In general, everything wireless costs more, breaks more often, and is less powerful than it’s wired counterpart. How is this tradeoff even remotely worth it? Give me wires any day.