Now that blazing-fast routers based on the IEEE 802.11ac standard are finally entering the mainstream, intrepid engineers are busily cooking up all-new hardware that will make that gear's performance seem quaint by comparison.
I write one of these "Tech Trends of 20XX" stories every year. For me, it's as big a part of the holidays as the Yule Log. I can remember some years when the big predictions for the next year were just the natural, incremental growth of current trends.
A router is the heart of your network, so it deserves to be chosen carefully. Any router will share your Internet connection amongst your computers and other networkable devices (smartphones, tablets, and so on), but better models provide features that will enhance your network and its performance. Whether you're seeking a business- or consumer-class router, here are the eight most essential features to look for.
Gibbs ponders how a Starbucks coffee cup could become the greatest business edge
The continuing saga of Google's wireless snooping and the maelstrom it's generated won't end anytime soon.
Google is cleaning up its mess after the company says it mistakenly collecting browsing data from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks as part of its Street View project.
The recent formal approval of the IEEE 802.11n wireless standard marks not the end but the start of a wave of Wi-Fi innovation. In the next three to five years, the Wi-Fi experience will be very different from today.
Sometime on Friday, at the sprawling Hyatt Regency hotel in New Brunswick, N.J., an IEEE group called the Standards Board is expected to approve the 802.11n wireless LAN standard.
In honor of the 802.11n WiFi standard getting close to arriving after wandering through the desert for 40 years, let's look at wireless. Our focus today is on helping you WiFi better, even if it means doing less WiFi.
A just released Aberdeen Group research report identifies the steps taken by best-in-class enterprise IT groups to create secure, pervasive, manageable, reliable, high-performance Wi-Fi networks.
Singapore-based ZiiLabs has unveiled a new mobile computer that's like an Android-based iPod Touch. It supports advanced 3D and outputs full high-definition video -- but it's currently available only to developers.
As more enterprises deploy wall-to-wall Wi-Fi, they're finding end users voting with their network interface cards: given a choice, they go with wireless rather than wired access.
For a concept that's remarkably easy to reduce to a sound bite, bridging the gap between mobile phones and enterprise networks ("fixed-mobile convergence") remains stubbornly hard to implement.
One thing you can depend on these days is that the claims made for wireless routers, like 300Mbit/sec. throughput and 1,000-foot range, are nothing more than digital pipe dreams. The plain and simple truth is that these speeds and distances just aren't going to happen in your home, office or any place on this planet.
