Wireless technology has started to take off in the UK. At present, this means freedom from cables and the ability to access the internet while on the move, but in the near future, it could be the key to many exciting new developments.
17 Jan 2005
by Anna Chambers
Imagine the day when you can turn on the heating in your home while sitting in your office, have several home computers that can access the internet and share files without being connected either to each other or to a phone line, listen to music that’s on your computer through your stereo, or program a robot that irons your shirts for you while you’re out? Well, apart from the last bit of wishful thinking, that day has either come already or is closer than you might think. Wireless technology – or WiFi for short – is making it all possible. It has already taken off in a big way in parts of America, with San Francisco expected to become totally WiFi in two years. American companies expect there will be 1.7 billion WiFi users world-wide by 2007, with a growth even quicker than the explosion of mobile phone use.
WiFi can connect computers together without wires over a distance of a few hundred feet, at a rate of 52 megabytes per second. It relies on broadband – unrestricted, unmetered, high speed internet access – for its success. Many upmarket hotels such as Glasgow’s Radisson already have wireless technology for their guests to access the internet via their laptops. It is also coming into play in workplaces where staff need to “hot-desk”. The new Sandy Road Health Centre in Partick by Gareth Hoskins Architects has a wireless area where transient staff, who only use the centre at certain times of the day, can sit down with a laptop and connect to the internet. BAA has also recently announced that it will provide WiFi access points (known as “hotspots”) in all its UK airports, including Heathrow and Gatwick, Stansted, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Southampton airports, allowing travellers to work and access the internet via laptops while waiting for a flight.
In the home, the main advantage of WiFi is liberation from cables. PCs do not need to be located next to the phone line - the line is instead plugged into a wireless access point, which broadcasts out signals that any number of PCs can pick up. Taken to its conclusion, this technology gives the potential for wireless music players, games consoles or even security cameras. And it’s not expensive - the average home can be fitted with WiFi for a few hundred pounds. My uncle, a recent convert and an enthusiastic advocate of WiFi, loves the fact that it allows the internet to be used as an accessible reference tool from the comfort of his sofa.
WiFi could eventually be available almost anywhere. “Wireless villages” could be created in tenements or new residential developments, where all residents could access the internet without cables. In the summer, Preston became the first English city to launch a fully equipped and operational wireless Internet network, led by the University of Central Lancashire, Preston City Council and technology provider TeleGeneration. Wireless “hotspots” have been deployed around the city centre\'s busiest areas, allowing residents and businesses to access the Internet without plugging into a telephone socket. One-year subscriptions are offered at £60, which is vastly cheaper than traditional monthly internet subscriptions. Michael Ahern, Director of UCLan\'s Information Systems Department, said: \"The low cost of the project helps to bridge the digital divide and means more people can afford to get online, making this a scheme that really is available to everyone.\"
Wirefree World is a Scottish company that is passionate about getting people to join the WiFi revolution, and installs wireless systems in homes and offices. They describe themselves as “a company of truly evangelical wireless experts who believe that wireless technology can - and will - change the world.” Director Richard Milne hopes his company can kill the nerves associated with new technology and that Scotland will become one of the first places to embrace WiFi. “I’d like to see Scotland conversant in things that are new in the world. People need to shake this technology to make it happen. The key to how fast WiFi will spread is the how quickly people switch to Broadband.”
Milne may have his work cut out – according to a recent MORI poll, more than two thirds of people were unsure what a WiFi hotspot was. Despite this, hotspots are popping up in even the most remote places, such as the Western Isles. BT is beginning to offer wireless access from “Openzone” payphones; laptops can be used within a 100m radius. Several of these are already operational in Edinburgh in places like Hanover Street and Merchiston Place, chosen for their proximity to hotels, restaurants and bars.
Richard Milne believes wireless is one of the few genuine elements of the home of the future, and hopes housebuilders start to take it more seriously. “Developers still view communications infrastructure as the homeowner’s responsibility. You wouldn’t to decide not install an electricity supply for a home, so why not install broadband?” says Milne. However, WiFi can easily be retro-fitted into existing properties.
The future holds exciting prospects like wireless building automation, lighting controls, smoke and CO detectors and home security. Soon we really will be able to turn on our heating remotely, and after that, who knows what else WiFi could do for us?
Read next: Andrew Wallace has created a sleek, modern Indian restaurant where the food takes centre stage.<br>
Back to January 2005
Browse Features Archive
Search
News
For more news from the industry visit our News section.
Features & Reports
For more information from the industry visit our Features & Reports section.