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Informant #400, 17 February 2005: Desperately seeking wireless
http://strom.com/awards/400.html Ê(Yeah!)
So
I am on the road, covering the RSA conference at the Moscone this week, and I
am awash in wireless connection options. The only problem is, none of them work
everywhere that I am, and all require some effort to enter the correct
information. I am beginning to think that this wireless stuff is over-rated,
and maybe that ole cat 5 isn't so bad after all.
This
is really the first time that I have used my new laptop (which is from Gigabyte
and quite nice and light) while on the road and under battle conditions ö
namely, reporting a big trade show. (As a side note, it seems as if there are
almost as many attendees at the RSA show as were at last year's Interop. But we
won't get into that right now.) Plus, having it in such a wireless-intensive
place such as downtown
So,
the good news: I can get my fix of Internet access pretty much wherever I might
be here. There are plenty of choices. But with those choices comes the
possibility of confusion. First off, do I use Windows to set up my wireless
settings, or Intel's ProSet software application? For
most purposes, the Windows setup screens do the job: quick, easy, and without a
lot of clicking around on various options while I am under the stress of having
to connect and file a story in a few minutes during the show or grab some
emails. It works well for open networks and for the semi-open networks (the
ones using WPA encryption). As long as you get a decent enough signal, you are
fine. What it doesn't do is display your signal strength very well so you can
move about where you are to optimize your bandwidth.
The
Intel configuration software (since I have an Intel radio in my laptop, which
is what I am using) has more bells and whistles and is also somewhat confusing
to deal with. It isn't as confusing as the special wireless software that I
have used from Belkin and D-Link, just to name some
others. When I was at the RSA conference, they had setup a protected network
for the attendees to use. The only problem was that it required a 12-step
procedure to connect securely. I was able to complete the procedure without
having to attend a 12-step program or go to the wireless help desk in the front
hall, I am proud to say. And for those of you that think that attendees at a
security conference should be able to use the triple-encrypted multiple
protocol security procedures, there was usually a crowd three or four deep at
the help desk with laptops in tow, waiting to get guidance on how they too
could become connected.
But
I digress. The triple-encrypted network was only available on one side of the
Moscone. The rest of the building has its own for-pay Wayport
system, which would come up when I tried to connect in these areas. I soon
figured out where the wired connections were, or where the freebie wireless hot
spots were (it was pretty easy, all you had to do was look where clumps of
people were hammering away on their laptops).
Back
at the hotel, my room got service from quite a few access points, but the open
ones were too weak for me to pull in, despite walking around my room trying to
find the best reception. (And my room wasn't all that big either.) The hotel
also had their own wireless network, but they wanted an obnoxious amount of
dough to connect for a night. The solution was to go down to the lobby, where I
could pick up a signal from someone else's network. Too bad the receptionist
had put in some CD that wasn't to my taste ö but these are the sacrifices that
road warriors of the 21st century have to deal with. If you want
quiet, solitude, and a real desk, you have to put up with the dead zone in
terms of wireless.
Back
in town this morning, I was locked out of my office but luckily was able to
grab another network from the building and finish this column.
Ê
So
I am thinking: my how times have changed. When I first started traveling with a
laptop back in the Jurassic period, it was all goodness if a hotel had an RJ11
jack that I could plug a modem into without having to unscrew the wall plates
and take apart the wiring. Then we got used to in-room Ethernet and I can't
even tell you how to use a modem anymore, (Remember those great SLIP vs. PPP
debates? Finding Compuserve access numbers? Compuserve?)
So I guess we are all better off. But managing wireless connections is quickly
becoming more time consuming than I thought.
A
note
I
know, I came into town and couldn't see everyone. But have no fear, being in LA
now means I will be a more frequent visitor to the Bay Area and other points on
the left coast. In the meantime, if you are a vendor in the Bay Area and want
to meet some of the editors for Tom's, they will be in town over the next couple
of weeks for various events. Drop me an email and I can set something up. I'd
love to introduce you to my staff, they are great bunch.
David Strom
Editor-in-Chief
Tom's Guides Publishing
+1 (818) 991-0282 x204
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