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2. About Wireless Technology

By now, there are few among us who haven’t heard of (A) the horrors of tangled masses (messes?) of chords, sitting like a great Gordian Knot underneath desks, making it nearly impossible to change peripherals or track down trouble when it occurs. No matter how neatly one attempts to arrange these cords, they inevitably turn into a writhing pile of snakes from Indiana Jones’ darkest nightmares.

Wireless technology is nothing new, and actually dates back to the 1890’s, when Guglielmo Marconi developed the first successful wireless telegraph. The idea of using radio frequencies eventually led to the broadcast of music and news over commercial sets, the “walkie-talkie” of World War II, and eventually cellular phones. In the last several years, this technology has been used in WANs (“Wide Area Networks”) and LANs (“Local Area Networks”) in order to transmit a wide range a data.

In addition to wireless Internet, there are wireless keyboards, printers, and mice. It’s possible to set up a wireless network in your own home without too much trouble, and in fact – if you live in an older existing home in which the wiring is already installed – wireless may be your only practical choice, should you want to network all the computers in your home.

The advantages of a wireless network include convenience and mobility; if you have a laptop equipped with a wireless card for example, you can pretty much work anyplace you like. It also allows you to expand your network quite easily without having to run additional cables all over the place.

Wireless technology does cost a bit more; you’ll have to update your cable or Ethernet modem to a wireless one, and install special cards in all your computers. Many say this extra cost is offset by the additional productivity that seems to occur as the result of not having to deal with extra chords.

There are however distinct disadvantages of a wireless network. Like all devices that rely on radio frequency transmission, wireless networks are subject to interference. If you have ever attempted to listen to a radio program while someone is running electric trains or using power tools nearby, you know what this is about. Additionally, there are security issues.

Wireless networks tend to use more power than their wired counterparts, and this extra power makes it easier for unwanted third parties to intercept data. There are encryption technologies available especially for wireless networks, but many of these seem to have weaknesses that are easily exploited by determined hackers – some of whom make a career out of identifying and hacking into wireless networks. Some additional information on wireless security is available in an online article located at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_security.

9. Getting Online

Naturally, you’ll want your business to have Internet access as soon as possible – for ready access to vital information, for networking, for promotion and communication and more. Here, you have many different options as well, at a range of costs and speeds. The general rule of thumb is that higher transmission speeds mean higher subscription fees. Again however, these higher fees may be offset by the greater revenue generated by a higher rate of productivity.

1. Dial-Up

This is really unacceptable for anyone but the most casual occasional surfer, or someone who uses the Web primarily for e-mail communication. It is the least expensive way to access the World Wide Web, with some companies offering access for as little as $5 per month. Others charge as much as $25 per month; the average monthly subscription fee for dial-up Internet access runs approximately $12.95.

The only advantages here are wide availability and the low cost. The major disadvantages are speed and the fact that your phone is tied up whenever you are online. The maximum speed for downloads and uploads is 56 kilobytes per second.

Some companies offer additional software they claim can speed this up by as much as 400%, however this does not help when it comes to downloading graphics - and attempting to download or watch streaming video or most audio over a dial-up connection is an exercise in futility, regardless. In addition, Internet connections over a dial-up service are frequently subject to interruption.

2. Satellite

Although satellite Internet access offers download speeds of up to 1.5 megabytes per second (about 25 times faster than dialup) and allows you to be online and on the phone at the same time, it is less dependable than dial-up as far as interruptions and dropped connections are concerned. Costs for satellite Internet run between $55 and $70 per month.

3. DSL

The “Digital Subscriber Line” was discussed earlier. This is a mid-range option and typically costs between $50 and $150 per month – although we’ve heard of one company offering DSL for as little as $25 per month. Download speeds range from 144 kilobytes to 1.5 megabytes per second, and upload speeds are comparable, though generally a bit slower. A DSL connection is made through your computer’s Ethernet port. If you’ve never seen one, an Ethernet cable resembles an overgrown phone cable.

The main advantages of DSL are that it has a high degree of dependability and it does not interfere with telephone communication in any way. In fact, DSL allows you to have VoIP telephone service, which can offset some of the extra cost of DSL. The disadvantage is that if you live in a rural area, any kind of high-speed Internet access may simply be unavailable, since the major corporations who control high-speed Internet find that serving small communities doesn’t generate enough profit to make any investment worthwhile.

If you are a cable TV subscriber, your cable company may offer special rates on DSL through your existing cable. Contact your cable provider for more information.

4. T1 and T3

This is the “Rolls Royce” of Internet access; a T3 connection offers rock-solid reliability and blistering download/upload speeds of 45 megabytes per second. This speed and reliability comes at a price: such Internet service starts at around $350 per month, and can go as high as $1200. Unless yours is a very large corporate business with sizable headquarters and 25 or more employees who are regularly online, you really don’t need this one. T1 service is more affordable (and slower), but for most businesses, the same performance can be achieved with DSL or cable.

5. A Word Of Caution

Before going online, it’s necessary to set up protection against malicious hackers, viruses, spyware, cyber attacks and an entire host of enemies who are gunning for your data. There are numerous options available here as well, which are discussed in more detail at the end of this online section.

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