It was 1 a.m., the family was tucked in and I was still getting the error message "Server unknown, cannot make connection." Of course, it would've been much more helpful if it had said, "Look, Patrick, you have four TCP/IP adapters already installed, you've max'ed out the capabilities of your archaic Windows98 OS. You can't install your 802.11b card until you remove at least one adapter." But no such luck. Instead, I had to wait until morning and choose either to abandon my Wi-Fi aspirations altogether or suffer the wrath of corporate IT for trying to install an "illegal" adapter on company property. I chose the latter, and while they solved the problem-and promised an OS upgrade to boot-I still had to leave my usual pound of flesh in the "Thank You" box on the way out.
The next step on the Wi-Fi trail came in the aftermath of a thunderstorm over Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. The ensuing delays, coupled with deadline pressures, made for an ideal time to sign up for T-Mobile's hotspot service. The on-site promotion made it sound so simple. Boot up, start your Web browser, log on to T-Mobile, enter your promotion code and you're set. But my anxiety level rose nonetheless, and justifiably so. Whenever I tried logging on to T-Mobile, I wound up defaulting to an obtuse domain. If I'd gotten the following message instead, it would've been more helpful: "Please use Internet Explorer instead of Netscape. We have no idea why we didn't indicate that in our promotion, maybe we're just testing you." In any case, I passed the test-in time to fire off three quick e-mails before my plane took off.
My point is that the recent flurry of activity over Wi-Fi deployments is all for naught unless the adaptation hurdles are greatly diminished and the ease of use rises rapidly. Long laptop bootup procedures and 50/50 chances of making a connection are not the path to quick and ready Internet access.
While many pundits fawn over the sheer number of hotspots being deployed by the likes of T-Mobile, Wayport and new-kid-on-the-Wi-Fi-block, Verizon, the two most exciting announcements of the past month were in fact that T-Mobile had integrated Wi-Fi access with its voice service and that sales of IP phones were set to bypass regular phones for the first time this year. The former follows through on my belief that carriers-though reluctant Wi-Fi participants-are the only ones capable of making Wi-Fi work. Seamless, internetwork roaming, between hotspots, as well as between cellular networks and hotspots-with one-stop authentication and billing-is the key. And T-Mobile shows that we're getting there. Only then will the World Wide Wi-Fi Web (WWWW) pass muster.
The rise of IP phones is interesting since this naturally leads to voice-over-IP-over-Wi-Fi for the enterprise, either on campus or through external hotspots. While operators recognize the cost- and revenue-reduction effect of VoIP, they are also painfully aware of the need to keep their corporate customers. If one operator doesn't supply seamless roaming with VoIP, another will. With such competitive pressures, the days of easy-to-use PDAs with embedded Wi-Fi access with the "killer app" of combined data, voice and VoIP capability are not far ahead of us.
Patrick Mannion
pmannion@cmp.com
