By Chris Long Reporter, BBC Click Online

Wi-fi internet connections are becoming commonplace. Prices are falling and installing a wireless network is apparently straightforward. But as Chris Long explains, while the technology is simple, actually getting it to work sometimes isn't.

The wi-fi market doubles each year

Wireless connections aren't new. In almost any big city, as soon as you've sat down someone whips out a gadget that connects to the ether.

Mobile phones, PDAs and notebooks, of all shapes and sizes, are reaching out wirelessly to the rest of the world.

And the wireless internet revolution has overtaken the home and office. Wi-fi has been changing the way we connect out personal computers to the internet.

"Wireless technology uptake has been surprisingly big," said Katie Cohen of PC World Computer Superstores.

"Even though we all anticipated it, it really is exploding because more and more people are seeing that wireless networking can literally change your life.

"More people are having two or three computers or laptops in the home and coming to the realisation that you can share your broadband, files and photos wirelessly and sit outside accessing the internet while somebody else is upstairs doing their homework."

Shifting standards

There are a number of standards, technologies and standards groups that are involved in wi-fi.

There is 80211A, 80211B and 80211G which are the current standards of which only A and G talk to each other.

There is new Pre N which has a longer range and faster through put, but also talks to B and G, which means you can use Pre N with your older kit.

Plus there is Mimo - which stands for multiple in multiple out - which is the technology that enables the increase in range.

And finally there is the IEEE which is the standards organisation that makes the standards that guarantee the bits of technology talk to each other.

But essentially it works one way: you get a modem that connects you to the internet and you connect that to the wireless transmitter which transmits to the PCs around it.

Katie Cohen believes people expected perfection from early networking versions but it was not available.

"What that meant was people needed to go out and get additional products so they could still get what they wanted but it required a little more effort," she said.

"But what we're seeing with some of the G and Pre-N versions is that it's possible to get maximum output and speed from the beginning"

It all comes down to how much data you can transfer and this is where range and interference come into play. It is just like crossing the road.

Traffic jams

Where the road is clear, you can get across it or transmit data across it easily.

Fill it with cars, and that all changes. It is the equivalent of lots of interference - and the transmission ceases.

The same thing applies to wi-fi - too much interference and you cannot send the data.

Wi-fi enthusiasts believe it has revolutionised internet access

"The two key problems we had with current networks are the amount of information they can transmit and the amount of space they can cover," said Rob Falconer of the Belkin Corporation.

"So all the vendors are going to the IEEE and saying 'We've got G, that's pretty good. It's stable and secure but what we need is the coverage and throughput. So let's look at the next standard'.

"The trouble with the IEEE is that it takes two to three years to get this standard going but the end users are used to wireless networks and they want it now.

"So as a group of vendors we've created a technology called Mimo, multiple input and multiple outputs."

It is a simple idea, basically you give your signal a better chance of getting there by adding extra antenna to your wi-fi devices.

"The easiest way of thinking of it is as a system which has got huge ears and sends out not just one signal but two," said Mr Falconer.

"These two signals will bounce off the walls and ceilings and everything else, and at the other end are these huge ears which collect all that signal back together again, and you can see what you've got."

This is Pre-N - it's not a new standard, it's a guess at what the new standard might be - all the same it improves the wifi-ers' lot, as it increases the range considerably.

Speaking for the man under the umbrella, if it isn't a standard, are there compatibility issues?

According to Mr Falconer vendors have chosen to take different paths.

"We will make sure it will still work with B and G," he said.

"Yes you're investing in a new network, it will solve all your problems and if we come to two years time and the standard isn't, you haven't wasted your money because it still works with B and G."

The result is a range of new products that solve problems for wi-fi users.

They are not a standard and they are not future proofed, but at least they work and solve some of our problems, which I think is a good thing.

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