There was a fascinating article in The Observer on 10 March, all about wireless, or rather wire-free use of the Internet. One of the constraints of using the Internet is that you have to be physically connected to a phone line. Not any more!
The author of this article, John Naughton, was typing it on his laptop computer in his garden shed, or so he said. I hope it was heated. When he finished it he sent it to The Observer office across the net without any wires connecting him with the phone line. Instead he has a small box plugged into the phone line socket in his house. This contains a standard modem and a radio transmitter and receiver (a transceiver). In his computer he has a PCMCIA card (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) which is also a radio transceiver. There is a programme installed in the base station and his portable computer which enables both of them to exchange data at ethernet speeds (that is very fast indeed).
He said it was a very liberating experience not being tethered to the phone line. He can work anywhere in the house or garden The system will work with a personal digital assistant and even with other computers which share the same Internet connection and can then pass files to one another at ethernet speed. He suggests in the article that neighbours and friends could join the network, provided that they are in range, just by obtaining the PCMCIA card, and provided he gives them the password. This opens up a whole host of possibilities.
The range of the base station is about 75 metres but can be considerably extended with a rooftop antenna. He envisages linking up the whole village where he lives and, if he had a broadband internet connection via a cable modem or an ADSL phone line, he could share this high speed Internet link with all of them.
It seems that this equipment, called WI-Fl or more technically known as 802.11 b networking, is available from any good computer store, though it is expensive at the moment (about £200 for the base station and £100 for the PCMCIA card), but, like most electronic innovations, prices usually come down. Why NAN? Neighbourhood Area Networking of course!
Dick Mackie has uncovered some more NANs, some among squatters in London who exploit the technology to organise local area networks using an Internet connection but no cabling at all. They even run courses on how to build antennae to exploit the powers of the radio communications as widely as possible.
The Internet started out as a self-help means of informal communication but has evolved into big business and advertising.
Perhaps, with this technology, a small part of it is getting back to its roots.
What extraordinary names appear. Why APPLE computers for instance? The name BLUEYONDER as an Internet service provider has been cropping up lately. Janet Upward uses it and explains it very succinctly. She says:
"I do not know much technically about Blueyonder except that it is a broadband high-speed cable connection. Its practical advantage is that it frees up your ordinary phone line as it has a dedicated connection to the internet all the time.
We have cable TV and phone so we have a monthly package for all three, which gives us unlimited 24-hour access to the Internet without having to dial up each time. Look them up on the web!"
Dick Mackie also has a Blueyonder broadband Internet connection. It costs him £34 per month and for this he gets an extra telephone line, as Janet describes, as well as all the free-to-air TV stations. He says you only need it if you are in the habit of downloading large files from the internet (or rather sitting round for two hours trying to do so). With broadband such an exercise only takes five minutes.
Dick says that broadband service will soon be available from BT and its competitors by ADSL i.e. by telephone line rather than cable, at £30 or less. He does not know if this includes the line rental but will find out.
The Editorial Office receives faxed Press Releases from several useful sources. Because of this we have not registered with the Fax Preference Service to stop the flow of unwanted messages. Nearly all have one thing in common - they all require you to dial phone numbers beginning with 090, usually 0906, which are premium rate numbers. The message that calls cost £1.00 or £1.50 per minute at all times is usually printed in very small letters at the bottom of the paper and the length of the call-back is usually given i.e. "calls to this 0906 number will cost £1.50 per minute at all times and will not last longer than 3 minutes and 20 seconds". Some say "ask whoever is paying the phone bill before making the call". Some appeal to vanity.
A random collection of faxes received in two weeks in March included:
Three different faxes suggesting you dial the 0906 number to receive the
‘Repossessed Property at Wholesale Prices' list. One says the faxback will last for 3 minutes and 20 seconds. Another warns in small letters that the list can be up to 25 pages long.
Ban Fox Hunting - Yes or No - two 0906 numbers to ring to register your vote.
March Freebies, Biggest Ever, Gifts and Goodies Galore. Dial the 0906 number and receive the full list (18 pages).
Fly to Ibiza for £1. A huge party all summer long! To read your Ibiza report and get your voucher for the £i flight ring 09080 etc. from your fax machine. It will print it all out in front of you. In small print it says that calls are £1 per minute at all times and will last from 5 to 14 minutes.
Tunes on Your Mobile and XXX rated Adult Faxback among other attractions. A faxback at your expense.
Two faxes extolling a Diet and Weight Loss Programme that could work for YOU! Just dial the (0906) number and receive the diet plan by fax, at your expense of course.
In all fairness the costs of these calls is not disguised. Warnings about asking the bill-payer before you call, and a standard rate number to ring if you want to be taken off the call list are usually included in the fax, nearly always in very small letters, but legible. What the Editor would like to know is whether the faxes reveal genuine business opportunities or is the whole object just to get you to make the phone call, the originator receiving a share of the phone call receipts?
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