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So you’ve got broadband. Great! After a while, though, many people find that they’ve got so used to having broadband on one computer that they want to be able to use it from any other ones they own, too - including their laptop, and computers that are nowhere near the broadband line. Traditionally, the solution to this has been to run expensive network cables through your house, making holes in your walls and restricting the movement of your computers. Recently, however, another option has become available: wireless broadband.

One of the most popular and well known wireless technology standards is Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity), which allows users to access the internet over a wireless Local Area Network. The speed and range of Wi-Fi, however, is severely limited. There is another wireless connectivity standard, called WiMAX, which is considerably more advanced.

In a Wireless network (WiFi) the computers within it can communicate with each other, and a password is set to prevent outside connection and interference. Firewalls are essential, and fortunately they are standard with most wireless routers. A network card fitted to every computer within the network is necessary too, and again, they’re usually standard in most newer PC’s and laptops. If one PC in your house doesn’t have a network card, it can still be connected to the WiFi network by means of cables.

Although WiMAX are networks are available in several major metropolitan areas in the US, base stations are very expensive to build, and aren’t cost effective in less densely populated areas. Because of this limitation, WiMAX technology is not yet available in most non-urban regions.

Wireless broadband access is usually no slower than plugging the modem in directly, unless you have very cheap wireless equipment and a very fast Internet connection. It also gives you the added advantage that your computers will be networked together wirelessly, too - so you can easily make your folders shared and access them from any computer in your house using ‘My Network Places’.

Filed under: Communications