More Computer Questions: Bluetooth and MBPS

[John Weber]

A couple more laptop questions, we trying to narrow it down. Is Bluetooth of value, I assume this lets devices such as a wireless mouse and keyboard work with the laptop. Second, is it worth getting a system that will support up to 54 Mbps vs 11 Mbps, I understand it is faster, but will it be noticeable with a broadband cable home based wireless network?

Thanks - John

[Jim Becker]

Bluetooth is an interesting technology, but is probably more valuable for hand-helds than a notebook in a personal environment. As to the wireless, support for 802.11b (11 mbs) is the minimum, but having 802.11g/802.11a (both 54 mbs, with 803.11g backward compatible with 802.11b) will make for more flexibilty over time. "Today" you will not notice the difference with your home setup for the Internet connection since most broadband is in the 768kbs-3mbs range, but you will for file transfer between multiple machines, printing to a shared printer, etc.

[Christopher Stahl]

Like Jim said, bluetooth is great for small devices but probably doesn't have any value for sharing of broadband in a home. Plus, as Jim also mentioned, this will not do anything for any broadband connections. Wireless is considerably faster than any home broadband connection.

There really isn't any reason to purchase 802.11b anymore since 802.11g is about the same price and is faster. These are hypothetical numbers, and 802.11g equipment is closer to 22Mbs than it is to 54Mbs. 802.11a equipment is usually more expensive, but is coming down in price. It's the fastest, true 54Mbs.

Both a and g have their pros and cons. b/g are in the 2.4GHz range, so half the electronics in your home will interfere with it. i.e. microwave, cordless phone, etc. Plus, it has a narrow band in the 2.4GHz range, so it's hard to find a channel sometimes that doesn't have interference, especially in a populated ares. Unfortunately, the 2.4GHz range is proactically open for anybody to use, so you'll find a lot of electronics that use this frequency. 802.11a is in the 5GHz range. The frequency band for this equipment is larger, but it doens't penetrate walls very well since the wavelengths are very short. If you have a large house that has lots of concrete, it could be a problem.

chris

[Michael Perata]

home based wireless network?


The only reason to use WiFi is that it is IMPOSSIBLE to wire your home with Cat5, or better yet glass.

Ask yourself a couple of questions:

1) Do you have private information on you computer network
2) Is the 15 year kid next door a computer wiz
3) Do you live close to a well travel road

If you answered yes to any of these questions - do not get WiFi.

If you can wire your house with Cat5 cable, then you can setup a 100Mps NAT enabled firewalled routed secure network for less than $100 per PC/Mac.

Yes - I am a privacy freak. Also network certified and have a Masters in CIS.

[Mike Cutler]

John. I gotta agree with Michael about the wireless system for the home. If you are truly going to go wireless in your home it is really in your best interest to learn all you can about about internet and wireless security. One of my co-workers has a son who can piggy back on the wireless networks he passes on the school bus, he can tell you the computer name, ISP address, all the devices on the network and can gain access to all of the home and some business networks he has encountered so far. This kid is NINE YEARS OLD!!!! and he is using 5 year old Apple iBook.

[Christopher Stahl]

I here paranoia in the air. :) I wouldn't be so paranoid about wireless networks. While it is easy to get onto a wireless network that uses no measures to restrict access, more than likely the information you're passing is encrypted.

If you do any sort of banking or the such, you'll notice those sites require browsers which handle 128bit encryption. Plus, if you use MAC based filtering and WEP, it would require the user to spend time to sniff your traffic. Not many people would take the time to do this unless they were hardcore type hackers.

Plus, I don't think you guys realize how easy it would be to sniff a wired connection. It doesn't take much at all. If you use any type of shared broadband access, i.e. cable modem, all your traffic is available to watch.

My point is, don't be too paranoid. If you want to use wireless, do so. Just don't plug it in and use it, read the information to at least use some basic protection like MAC based addresses and WEP. If you want to go a step farther, use VPN software.

chris