what is wi-fi? how it may impact obf mike norris, moderator chris read, assistant moderator
TRANSCRIPT
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Background Committee members have expressed an
interest in obtaining a more basic level of understanding regarding the new technologies being investigated by the SAG TFO and other OBF groups
This is the first in a series of presentations designed to familiarize OBF participants with new and emerging technologies
Future presentations will be based on your feedback and priorities
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What is Wi-Fi? Wi-Fi is short for Wireless Fidelity
A short-range wireless radio technology
The Wi-Fi standard was developed and commercialized at Apple Computer as early as 1999
It allows wireless access for computer to computer, as well as to the Internet
It primarily uses 802.11 technology
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What is Wi-Fi? (cont) It works both indoors and outdoors
Indoor wireless signal coverage is up to 300 feet
Outdoor wireless signal coverage is up to 5 miles for multi-point and up to 20 miles point-to-point with greater capabilities under development
Currently runs up to 11 megabits/second
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How Does Outdoor Wi-Fi Work?
Outdoor Wi-Fi requires an outdoor antenna, with an ethernet cable coming into the building, plugged directly into a PC or a wired hub Outdoor Wi-Fi to the building would be the
same interconnection to the customer as DSL or cable
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Ethernet Cable
Inline Power Injector
Hub, Switch or Router
Central Router/Bridge
Hub Switch
Inline Power Injector
Ethernet Cable
Remote Router/BridgeRF Cable
Outdoor Wi-Fi Example
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How Does Indoor Wi-Fi Work? Indoor Wi-Fi is optional, and requires
installation of a wireless Access Point (AP) inside a building coupled with a computer with Wi-Fi capabilities to provide a wireless LAN The Wireless AP allows access throughout
the building (i.e. wireless LAN) Laptop needs a Wi-Fi card, which can be
purchased at many retail outlets
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Where is Wi-Fi Available?
Anywhere there is a hotspot or hotzone such as: Your home can be Wi-Fi capable with
installation of required equipment Many office buildings, businesses,
apartment buildings, hotels, etc. Airports, airplanes, convention centers Starbucks, McDonalds, etc. Pay phones in Manhattan
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Wi-Fi Interconnection Diagrams
The Following Diagrams Were Obtained From the Wi-Fi Alliance Site which is an excellent source of Wi-Fi information:
www.wi-fi.Org
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Who Uses Wi-Fi? 40 million people!
Hotel guests (8-12% usage per occupied room) Corporate users “Windshield Warriors” who need internet
services Millions of blue collar and white collar workers
Traveling sales representatives Delivery and repair workers
Home users Coffee house / restaurant patrons
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How is the Wi-Fi User Billed? There are many ways to bill for WiFi
service Some hotspot providers offer free service Others charge hourly, daily, weekly or
monthly Billing is usually to a credit card and is
accomplished via a “welcome” screen which pops up when you enter the first web address
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Wi-Fi Roaming End Users with Wi-Fi capable laptops can
use multiple Wireless ISP networks in different locations
There are companies (aggregators) that create roaming agreements between Wireless ISPs (For example Boingo Wireless)
Typically there are no end user charges associated with roaming due to agreements between Wireless ISPs
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Need for Ordering and Billing Industry Interconnection
There are no ordering standards for Wireless ISPs who choose to partner with an aggregator All done on a case-by-case basis Proprietary to each aggregator
There are no billing standards Aggregator to bill the Wireless ISP Wireless ISP to bill the Aggregator when Wireless
ISP network is used Ordering and billing standards would be
helpful right now and crucial as Wi-Fi service expands
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On The Horizon As mentioned, currently 40 million Wi-Fi
users New access points are selling at the rate of
about 15,000 a day This makes Wi-Fi a much faster-growing
technology than cellular telephony
A new open wireless standard, 802.16 is emerging Known as WiMax
From NYTimes.com article: “Led by Intel, True Believers in Wi-Fi Say It Will Endure”
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On The Horizon (cont) New option for “last mile” provisioning to
customer locations Intended to send data over distances of as
much as 30 miles and at speeds of up to 70 megabits a second (versus 11mbs for 802.11)
Comfortably streams high-definition television video broadcasts
From NYTimes.com article: “Led by Intel, True Believers in Wi-Fi Say It Will Endure”
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On The Horizon (cont) Industry players believe that
commercial Wi-Fi services will complement and not compete with free services
From NYTimes.com article: “Led by Intel, True Believers in Wi-Fi Say It Will Endure”
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Impact on OBF OBF committees need to become aware of
and align with Wi-Fi initiatives in the industry It is critical that we provide our expertise to
ensure evolution of high quality standards for: Ordering Provisioning Information exchange Billing
OBF Participants need to become aware of strategic plans within their companies for Wi-Fi Technologies