Wireless technology has existed for many years. For example, the earliest and most commonly known examples of wireless technology were in the form of broadcast radio and television. Also, the telephone is another obvious example. This technology has evolved from the rotary dialling methods to touch tone. Today, cellular phones have overtaken wired phones in sales. This shows that wireless technology has been, and will continue to be a valuable invention.
However, in the last decade this technology has been re-worked, refined and re-packaged for a mainstream market. Once only used in big business, wireless networks (such as Local Area Networks or LANs) have been introduced into a domestic setting in order to create a home office environment free from clutter.
A LAN is essentially created when two or more devices are connected in order to communicate with each other. A router sends the signal to the devices so that the equipment can communicate. The speed at which this signal is communicated and received varies between band widths. Each computer must be fitted with a network card that receives the signal. These are available in several forms including USB and compact flash.
The basic set up of a network consists of four key elements. Firstly, there has to be the computer element. This can be in the form of a PC or a PDA. Secondly, there must be a place to store information (drivers.) Thirdly, there should be access to a printer and lastly there should be a device for connecting to the internet, weather that be via a dial-up, cable or ADSL modem (Linskys, 2004). Using wireless technology in this way allows for information and resources to be easily shared, without meters of wires running throughout a home.
However, the latest and most popular use for a wireless network is to share broadband internet. Once a network as been established, a signal can usually be found anywhere within the home. This means that work, weather it be for academic purposes or out of office purposes can be completed almost anywhere in the home, including outside (Schaff, 2004)
Essentially, the benefits of creating a wireless network in the home far out way the negatives. Installing a wireless network could mean increased productivity, as work from the office can be completed by the pool or in the lounge room. It is predicted that in the near future, wireless networks will be used in the majority of households and the home office will soon become the hub of the home, allowing the core functions such as printing to be accessed from almost anywhere on the property (Ward, 2002). Similar to mobile phones, as manufacturers minimise costs and enhance performance, prices for equipment will continue to be reduced. Therefore, this technology will no longer be a novelty, but an essential part of life.
Back to Applications of wireless technologies
References
What Wireless Networking Means To Everyday People. 2003. http://www.linksys.com/products/wp_wireless.asp (accessed August 10, 2004).
Mark Ward. 2002. Wireless net takes over homes. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2591181.stm (accessed August 6, 2004).
Schaff, W. 2004. Wireless Networking Moves Home. Information Week, 994: 91 (accessed August 11, 2004 from Proquest: Computing database).
Katherineedwards 07:26, 27 Oct 2004 (EST)
