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Microsoft 802.11g a Big Step Forward for Wireless Networking
Posted by: bpburnwal on Nov 08, 2003 - 12:20 PM
Microsoft
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The new 802.11g standard for wireless networking is a no-lose improvement on the 802.11b standard we've been using for a few years now.
It's at least five times faster. The practical effect of its greater speed is that keeping all your files on a central home or office server is now far more attractive. Signal reliability has been improved, it's far more secure, and it'll work with all of your existing 802.11b hardware.
Really, the only problem that 802.11g doesn't address is the difficulty of having to write a sequence of five numbers, one letter, and a symbol many, many times in the course of writing a technology column.
Microsoft was late out of the gate with it's Wireless-G family of 802.11g networking gear. The company chose to wait until the standard was formalized -- but the delay paid off. Retail shelves were already bulging with basic, functional, but wholly uninspired, wireless hardware.
Now Microsoft has gone and made hardware and software that show a greater understanding of how home and small-office networking works, and the problems that humans face in setting the stuff up.
Take its MN-700 base station. At $109, it'll cost you about $30 more than many other 802.11g bases, but you're probably getting at least 50 or 60 bucks worth of features that you'd be likely to add on later, viz:
* It has a built-in four-port switch for traditional wired Ethernet. A switch is something you probably would have bought later on anyway. I'm so wireless that I could have inspired the title of Thomas Dolby's breakout album, and yet even I concede that when you're adding deskbound PCs to a wireless network, three 15-foot cables plus a $20 switch cost less than three $80 wireless adapters. In fact, as a geek, I can tell you that the price difference is enough to cover the DVD box-sets of Seasons Two and Three of "Babylon 5," or "Monty Python's Flying Circus" in its entirety.
* It protects your network from attacks from the outside. I certainly hope that you're familiar with firewall software packages that you can install on your PCs. They're effective, but a hardware- based firewall like the one built-into the MN-700 can be far less expensive and far more effective. Every machine that accesses the Internet through the adapter is protected -- not just those equipped with $50 software add-ons.
* It extends parental controls to every machine on the network. Through its straightforward administration app, you can block domains like www.hotbutteredstewardesses.com and impose other usage limits as well.
The upshot is that over the next year, you won't need to spend a lot of money or a lot of thought buying additional hardware or software.
Microsoft sweetens the deal with some really wonderful setup and administration software, too. And here, I'm conflicted. As a general category, networking has a long way to go before it really makes it as a consumer product.
You remember the last time you brought home a new printer? Of course not. You plugged it in, Windows was more or less familiar with the concept of printers, it set up the new device more or less automatically, and then you moved on with your life.
Installing network hardware is a far more memorable experience. See that dent in the dry wall over there? That's where I threw my first 802.11b base station.
Hence my conflict. The soft-ware that ships with Microsoft's new access point and its desktop and notebook wireless adapters ($85 each, incidentally) is just wonderful. It's not flawless, but novices can set up the hardware in a simple, straightforward manner, and once it's running, they can monitor and maintain the network without resorting to blasphemy.
So I ask: Why isn't this part of Windows XP? Why isn't this available to users of all wireless hardware?
Oh, well. I shouldn't diminish Microsoft's accomplishment. If you don't mind paying a small premium, its Wireless-G base station delivers solid features -- and software that doesn't actively discourage you from using them.
A big win all around.
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