Hints and Tips

 

What is the Wireless Ethernet:
The Wireless ethernet provides internet access to mobile computers without connection cables. Instead, it uses radio communication between the computer and AcIS Access Points.

There are several versions of wireless ethernet in use today. Columbia's wireless ethernet is based on the IEEE 802.11b "high rate" standard, therefore only devices that use this protocol will work on the Columbia campus.

Why are we doing this?
The key advantage of wireless Ethernet is flexibility. Your PC does not have to be chained to a network jack. Network access can be found in places previously not available (on the Low Library steps, for example). And, in classrooms, conference rooms, and other venues, access to the network can be provided for less cost than with wired networks.

However, there are also some disadvantages which make this service complementary to our wired networks. Our wired networks will continue to provide higher performance and better security.

How fast is it?
The IEEE 802.11b standard has a nominal speed of 11 megabits per second (Mbps). However, depending on signal quality and how many other people are using the wireless ethernet through a particular Access Point, usable speed will be much less (on the order of 4 or 5 Mbps, which is still substantially faster than most dialup, cable and DSL modems).

To put that into perspective, wired ethernet on campus is mostly a full 10 Mbps, and a 56K modem connection is .056 Mbps.

Is it secure?
No, Wireless ethernet is insecure by default. Any user on the Wireless Local Area Network (LAN) can spy on unencrypted traffic from other wireless users. Wired connections on Columbia's campus are generally more secure when communicating with other Columbia servers, however when connecting to sites off-campus, only encrypted connections are secure. Users are advised to use Kerberos authentication, or SSL to connect to web pages and mail hosts, and SSH instead of telnet whenever possible.
 

What’s coming next?

Automatic Identification (autoID) includes bar codes, smart cards, voice recognition, biomentric technologies (such as retinal scans) optical character recognition and
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

RDID Uses radio waves to automatically identify individual items. It doesn’t require line-of-sight (unlike bar codes) and can identify individual items (unlike bar codes which can only identify only the manufacturer and the product)

(RDIF has been in existence since the Second World War, but up to now has been too expensive and limited for general practical use).

Radio waves travel through most nom-metallic materials so products that are packaged could still be identified.

If tags can be made cheaply enough, it will be possible for every product manufactured throughout the entire world to have its own unique serial number. Mass production has started.

Intelligent software agents: (applications that read the data coming from RDIF tags to automate routine decisions) could then be used, for example, to track every item moving through a supply chain to raise an alert if, for instance, they are not stored at the right temperature or if the item has been tampered with or moved.

Clearly, this has enormous significance. Products which can communicate with reader devices and other products will produce a ‘physically linked world’. Items could report when they are stolen, and signal their exact location.

Shopping carts could automatically bill consumers accounts, interactive televisions could select commercials based on the contents of a home’s refrigerator. Doctors could remotely monitor patients use of prescriptions. Marketing organizations could monitor consumer’s use of products within their home.

Euro banknotes are expected to contain RFID tags by 2005. It seems that the anonymity of cash transactions will soon disappear.

Order and Balance or Invasive Big Brother?
Will there be a public backlash?










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