 
By John Morris Executive editor, CNET Reviews (April 3, 2003) Most of the computer industry is still in a serious economic funk, but there's at last one major bright spot: wireless. In my last column, I wrote about Centrino, but Intel's new technology is really one more passenger on the wireless bandwagon, what with wireless networking growing sharply last year at work and especially in homes. What may really drive Wi-Fi into the mainstream this year, however, and change the way we use it, is the spread of hot spots in public places. By now, just about everyone has noticed the hot-spot signs at their local Starbucks. But these T-Mobile services are just the tip of the iceberg. Several thousand hot spots now exist around the country--not only in cafes, but also in airports, hotels, bookstores, city parks, gyms, you name it. Even McDonald's plans to add wireless to its Dollar Menu. (Can lawsuits over getting both fat and addicted to the Internet be far behind?) Of course, it's hard to nail down the exact number of hot spots in the United States because for every Admiral's Club with a hot spot, there's the altruistic guy in the apartment next door who shares his wireless access with the rest of the building. Are you hot? CNET's own Hotspot Zone directory lists more than 4,000 hot spots in the United States, and not just in New York and San Francisco, either. When I entered my own zip code, for instance, I discovered that the Irish pub in my town offers 802.11b with a pint. Yes, there's even a hot spot in Peoria, Illinois (I checked). That has to be a sign of something.
Even carriers (aside from T-Mobile) who spent billions on licensed radio spectrums for wireless data services that have yet to get any traction are starting to see the writing on the wall. Wi-Fi has a shorter range than cellular data networks and isn't as widely available yet, but it offers much faster access. And many of us either already have Wi-Fi equipment for home or work or at least know how to buy and use it. AT&T and Verizon both recently announced plans to set up hot spots. Newcomer Cometa seems to be working with just about anyone in hopes of turning a patchwork of third-party hot spots into a nationwide quilt. Other providers such as Boingo and Pronto Networks are taking a more grassroots approach, providing businesses with the equipment they need to set up their own hot spots. Easy access = growing business When T-Mobile HotSpot launched last fall, I tried it out at a Starbucks in San Francisco. I had plans to write about the service, but it turned out there wasn't much to say. I used my existing notebook and wireless PC Card, browsed the Web, launched my VPN to check e-mail at work--it was all just like being at my desk. In short, it was totally uneventful, and that's one of the big reasons why hot spots are poised to take off.
Shakeout yet to come That's not to say that everything is rosy in the Wi-Fi world. Despite rapid growth, hot spots are still too few and far between. Their pricing is often confusing, and the unlimited plans everyone wants are still too expensive at $40 to $50 per month. Worse, these "unlimited" plans get you access only to one network. What we really need are roaming agreements so that you can use any hot spot. Boingo and T-Mobile have already announced plans to bridge their networks, and Intel has invested millions in a more ambitious bid to create a single platform that lets users access both wireless LANs (local-area networks) and WANs (wide-area networks) regardless of who provides the service. Finally, for those of us who are using wireless at multiple locations, we need software that better manages the transition and provides transparent security. No doubt there will be a shakeout in this cottage industry in 2003--too many different types of companies are trying to get a piece of the action. The end result should be a network of hot spots that make it broader, more reliable, easier to use, and more affordable. Hopefully, hot spots will deliver what WANs have so far failed to: the ability to work or play anywhere, anytime.
John Morris is an executive editor for hardware and software coverage at CNET. Have a question for him? Let us know!
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