You will find quite a few postings here on patrickWeb about WiFi. My enthusiasm continues to grow as WiFi continues to gain momentum. The technical name for WiFI is 802.11b. That is the standard from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE, of which I am proud to be a senior member). 802.11b will soon seem primitive!
According to Greg Phillips, CEO and Founder of AirRunner Technologies, Inc., the proposed 802.11g standard took a step forward this week, passing the first of several votes required for approval by the IEEE, which is expected to finalize the standard in May 2003. The 802.11g protocol enables data-transfer rates of up to 54Mbps, compared to 11Mbps for the current 802.11b. More importantly, Greg points out, is that it will be backward compatible with existing 802.11b equipment, unlike the currently available 802.11a, which offers higher speeds but operates on an incompatible radio frequency.
802.11g will also offer better security — one of the criticisms often made about current the WiFi implementation. I am not sure of the real numbers — probably nobody is — but most would agree that there are now nearly 20 million 802.11b access points installed in homes, offices, airports, and other places worldwide. Greg believes there will be 100 million hot spots in place by the end of 2003.