In Arizona we started the community Free-Net back in 1993 and opened to the public in August of 1994.
AzTeC Computing Free-Net provides free web space to Arizona based non-profits and free text based web access, local discussion groups, e-mail and usenet access.
The system has supported as many as 30,000 users and is still going, even in these days of... flashy, blinking, dancing babies...
Free-Nets were built all over the world in the early 1990's many have closed down, some have turned commercial and others continue to survive.
Proxim Cards are also available and access points should be out next week.
"The new Skyline 802.11a CardBus Card and Access Point are fully compliant with the IEEE 802.11a standard and also feature Proxim's 2X(TM) mode, which enables connection speeds up to 108 Mbps. "
The CSR chips are quoted at $8 and I have not seen any vendor quoting more than $30. You can get PCMCIA cards from Digianswer, Toshiba, IBM, Motorola, etc. for less than $200.
Cambridge Silicon Radio is saying that they will ship their new chip at about $5 sometime this year.
It sounds to me like SPIKE will be the real follow-on replacement for IR (IrDA) and that it will actually bring us the kind of connectivity which was promised there but never delivered (well, maybe it was delivered but it was rarely used).
Bluetooth (tm) brings us a different kind of connectivity for a different purpose and it looks to me like they both have a place, as do Wi-Fi (802.11b) and CDMA/GPRS/UMTS. [ a place for everything and everything in its place ]
I am certain that many technologies will be mis-used in the future and I am sure that some people will be very happy about that and others less happy. We have seen lots of examples over the years (beta-max/vhs; Linux/MacOS/Unix/Windows; [give me a command line and get out of my way])
I have no doubt that we will see Wireless LAN's built using Bluetooth (tm) and that someone will add Service Discovery to some 802.11(b/a/g/e)
implementation. It will not matter to consumers whether those are mis-applications of the technology.
What will matter to them is:
What do I find on the store shelf when I go looking for a solution?
Does it work how I think it should work?
Is it easy to use, easy to set up, etc?
Did my favorite super-model or football player tell me to buy it?
And Digianswer has announced that they will promote the creation on Bluetooth Drivers for Linux and I believe they announced that they plan to open their source code in the future.
They are also a Top Bluetooth (tm) Related Web Site
Re:Bluetooth - necessary in 802.11 world?
on
Bluetooth Bombs
·
· Score: 1
I was chairing the second day of a Bluetooth Conference in Washington, D.C. (USA) last summer when the French military made the decision to allow Bluetooth to operate in the required frequencies. This should also apply to 802.11b, HomeRF, etc. The news was brought to me by Brent Miller from IBM and I announced it from the podium. I believe that the effective date was January, 1, 2001.
Delbert, I like your Bluetooth on Linux page, and what a great banner. Maybe if everyone who reads this thread votes for your site on the Top Bluetooth Sites list you will move up in the ranking and get a lot more traffic. Bluetooth on Linux needs a lot more work.
Why not look at some of the real facts about this company for yourself. Do not rely on anonymous postings by ranters and ravers. At this link you can find lots of places to look up and read more information about this company. Stock Help Network ADSX Information page.
Slashdot Mirror
After someone posted about this article, some other folks decided to try to
re-define the article as one more object of the class:
"silly googlebombing stories"
It only took about 10 hours for the term to start showing up in search results.
AzTeC Computing Free-Net provides free web space to Arizona based non-profits and free text based web access, local discussion groups, e-mail and usenet access.
The system has supported as many as 30,000 users and is still going, even in these days of ... flashy, blinking, dancing babies ...
Free-Nets were built all over the world in the early 1990's many have closed down, some have turned commercial and others continue to survive.
If you want to try it, you can telnet there.
The login is guest and the password is visitor
Proxim Cards are also available and access points should be out next week.
"The new Skyline 802.11a CardBus Card and Access Point are fully compliant with the IEEE 802.11a standard and also feature Proxim's 2X(TM) mode, which enables connection speeds up to 108 Mbps. "
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wirelesslan/message
And Gino says the following:
"Re: 802.11a Basics- Shipping
I have Proxim 802.11a cardbus cards on stock....
need any?
AP will ship next week..
Gino"
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wirelesslan/message
Subscribe
Bill Austin
Top Wireless LAN Related Sites
Here is the message (REG) containing most of the useful references for co-existence and interoperability of 802.11b and Bluetooth
Bill Austin
Top WLAN Sites
Original apology note
Another article with further discussion
Bill Austin
Top Bluetooth (tm) Sites
It is a lot like the Free-Net movement of the early 1990's ( see AzTeC Free-Net ).
There is an association of these free WLAN Networks. That group and several of the free systems are members of the Top Wireless LAN Related Web Sites List.
Bill Austin
Wireless LAN News and Discussion.
Transmit power:
Spike: mW 0.75 mW
Bluetooth: Class 1: 1 to 100 mW
Class 2: 0.25 to 2.5 mW
Class 3: 1 mW
>Didn't some company come up with a chip that increases Bluetooth range?
The higher powered devices are supposed to be capable of up to 100 meters.
You can check to see if there are any Qualified Products in that classification.
Bill Austin
Bluetooth (tm) News and Discussion
Best Bluetooth (tm) Sites
Cambridge Silicon Radio is saying that they will ship their new chip at about $5 sometime this year.
It sounds to me like SPIKE will be the real follow-on replacement for IR (IrDA) and that it will actually bring us the kind of connectivity which was promised there but never delivered (well, maybe it was delivered but it was rarely used).
Bluetooth (tm) brings us a different kind of connectivity for a different purpose and it looks to me like they both have a place, as do Wi-Fi (802.11b) and CDMA/GPRS/UMTS. [ a place for everything and everything in its place ]
I am certain that many technologies will be mis-used in the future and I am sure that some people will be very happy about that and others less happy. We have seen lots of examples over the years (beta-max/vhs; Linux/MacOS/Unix/Windows; [give me a command line and get out of my way])
I have no doubt that we will see Wireless LAN's built using Bluetooth (tm) and that someone will add Service Discovery to some 802.11(b/a/g/e) implementation. It will not matter to consumers whether those are mis-applications of the technology.
What will matter to them is:
What do I find on the store shelf when I go looking for a solution?
Does it work how I think it should work?
Is it easy to use, easy to set up, etc?
Did my favorite super-model or football player tell me to buy it?
Bill Austin
Bluetooth (tm) Mailing List
Top Bluetooth (tm) Sites
Buy Internet? What is that?
We were giving away Internet for free by 1994. We are still doing it today.
People ask me "Why is it free?" and I tell them (really slowly) ... "Because it doesn't cost anything." (source)
And Digianswer has announced that they will promote the creation on Bluetooth Drivers for Linux and I believe they announced that they plan to open their source code in the future. They are also a Top Bluetooth (tm) Related Web Site
I was chairing the second day of a Bluetooth Conference in Washington, D.C. (USA) last summer when the French military made the decision to allow Bluetooth to operate in the required frequencies. This should also apply to 802.11b, HomeRF, etc. The news was brought to me by Brent Miller from IBM and I announced it from the podium. I believe that the effective date was January, 1, 2001. Delbert, I like your Bluetooth on Linux page, and what a great banner. Maybe if everyone who reads this thread votes for your site on the Top Bluetooth Sites list you will move up in the ranking and get a lot more traffic. Bluetooth on Linux needs a lot more work.
Why not look at some of the real facts about this company for yourself. Do not rely on anonymous postings by ranters and ravers. At this link you can find lots of places to look up and read more information about this company. Stock Help Network ADSX Information page.