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Wi-Fi Spreading Fast But Lacks Profits

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the wireless-fidelity-is-silly-jargon dept.

clapton_fan writes "The New York Times has a story that details the spread of wireless networks but says the concept has been short on profits thus far. Its growth is mainly attributable to homes and small businesses. Corporations are reluctant to embrace them because of security concerns. Meanwhile, Intel is planning to have every device that uses an Intel chip Wi-Fi enabled which will make it difficult for companies that sell Wi-Fi as an accessory to prosper."

3 of 193 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Well by Apathy+costs+bills · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I don't think that the government has yet classified the use of 802.11 as terrorism, rather they have claimed that anyone running 802.11 without encryption or building devices capable of this are enabling terrorism. Which is in itself rather chilling and idiotic, but we should at least stick to being terrified of what the government is actually doing.

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  2. Wi-Fi as accessory? by cornjchob · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So, let me get this straight: because Intel packs wi-fi onto each intel chip, wi-fi won't sell as an accessory? Ah, yes, I see...just like how motherboard venders include sound and video, and as such, the video card and sound card industries flail in lack of funds.

    Oh wait, that's right...

    The gain from a chip and antennae embedded on a chip isn't going to be that great. Intel's mainly doing it for internal purposes. If you want any sort of range, add-ons and accessories are the only way to go, and I foresee absolutely no change in that.

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  3. P2P WiFi does not require profit to grow. by emptybody · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If all WiFi clients were also repeaters/bridges, the network would be supported and built by the users.

    The wired internet was not a for profit system.
    Why do people insist that WiFi must be for profit?

    public open WPOPs should be all over the place. The more a pop is used, and the more pops/users there are, the more the infrastructure supporting it will grow.

    By virtue of using the system you would add to it's range and capacity.

    Just think if all cars had a WiFi repeater installed in them. the Highway becomes a true information highway. Packets jumping from car to car to get from anywhere to anywhere.

    A previous slashdot article talked about doing this with Cell Phones. The logic is sound. There just has to be enough supporting users.

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