The competing technologies are causing headaches for the growing number of companies trying to piece together a patchwork of wireless LANs (local area networks) in coffee shops, hotels and other public areas to create a nationwide wireless network. One such company is Boingo Wireless. The company makes deals with other companies that have set up their own 802.11b networks in places like airport lounges and hotel lobbies. Boingo then sells customers access to more than 600 of these Wi-Fi networks and gives the network owners a slice of any revenue from a subscriber.

Boingo Wireless users can already use an 802.11a network if they have the appropriate equipment, said spokesman Christian Gunning, The company is leaving it up to the operators of the smaller networks to make their own decisions on which of the scenarios to go with, Gunning said, Just when consumers have learned to ngp case for apple iphone 7 - translucent/turquoise use--and pronounce--the wireless networks known as 802.11, along comes a few new versions that threaten to confuse the market, Millions of people and businesses have installed 802.11b networks--also known as Wi-Fi networks--in the past couple of years, making the technology one of the few bright spots in an otherwise bleak market for PC hardware..

CNET también está disponible en español. Don't show this again. First-generation wireless networks used analog technology to transmit voice; the second generation (2G) went digital, adding capacity to the network, increasing voice quality and letting data be transmitted as well. 2.5G technology lets packets of data be sent separately from voice, allowing always-on data connectivity. 3G promises super-fast data transmission and increases in capacity, a major issue for overburdened wireless networks.

A veritable alphabet soup of abbreviations has sprung up to describe the standards for these networks, Most of the world uses the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) standard, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is the 2.5g upgrade for GSM, Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE) gives GSM networks the ability to handle 3G-level data transmission speeds, ngp case for apple iphone 7 - translucent/turquoise A competing network standard, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and its upgrade, 1XRTT, allow data speeds comparable to those of GPRS..

"Show me the device. Then show me the application that's going to make people want to use it."--Gerald Faulhaber, Wharton professor The current front-runner, Faulhaber noted, is in Japan, where NTT DoCoMo has launched a mobile phone service very popular with teenagers. "The best thing out there is NTT DoCoMo's iMode. It has a fairly large screen, and yes, it can show you Web clips. But you can't do too much with it. There's no keyboard, and it's difficult to navigate. Even in Japan, its primary use has not been Web access," Faulhaber said, alluding to the fact that many people send messages or play games on iMode devices instead of surfing the Internet.