Author: Wayne Slavin

MetroFi Inc., a start-up company founded by former Covad officials, is eyeing Wi-Fi as the foundation of a new nationwide broadband network that could serve as a viable alternative to high-speed service from local telephone and cable companies. Via [computerworld.com]

WiFi -- 802.11b, -a, and -g wireless networking -- is the big Internet success story of this decade. It's successful because it is simple, cheap, and unlicensed. And that lack of a required license is taking WiFi places nobody ever expected it to go. How could a local area networking technology, for example, compete with...

Broadcom has introduced a Wi-Fi chipset that it says can speed the performance of 802.11g networks to 125mbps, potentially creating new opportunities for routing high-bandwidth media across wireless networks. Via [news.com.com]

More than a quarter of Wi-Fi products fail compatibility tests the first time, according to the Wi-Fi Alliance, the body that promotes Wi-Fi use. Most users find that Wi-Fi devices work the first time with any hotspot, however, because the problems are always fixed before the product earns the Wi-Fi badge -- the 1000th of...

Airline will offer wireless LAN service to keep passengers connected. Via [pcworld.com]

Thanks to a lift provided by its latest hotel deal, Wi-Fi service provider Wayport Inc.'s network now has more than 4 million customer connections. Via [wirelessweek.com]

An estimated 50 million homes in Europe, the United States and Asia will have Wi-Fi connections by 2007, according to new data released Wednesday. Via [zdnet.com.com]

Wireless LAN access points using new software from Texas Instruments will be able to support 802.11g and 802.11a connections simultaneously using a single chip set, the company says. Via [techworld.com]

NetGear unveiled a Wi-Fi device on Tuesday that is designed to retrofit stereos so they can connect to wireless networks. Via [news.com.com]

Chipmaker GlobespanVirata announced that it has developed an upgrade for wireless networking processors that dramatically increases transfer rates of compressed data. Via [zdnet.com.com]

In apartment complexes, dormitories and neighborhoods, people are using Wi-Fi technology to set up communal wireless networks with friends. The process allows multiple users to take advantage of one high-speed broadband Internet connection, sparing many from shelling out the extra bucks for a connection of their own. Via [deseretnews.com]

The UN says it is good for poorer nations, Exeter is the best place for it, you can get it with your burger, lager or latte, it is in 200 phone boxes, and the UK's E-commerce Minister Stephen Timms wants every library to have it. Via [news.bbc.co.uk]

What started a century ago with Marconi's radio and became the now ubiquitous cellphone is now taking shape around a two-way radio technology called wi-fi (short for "wireless fidelity"). It promises to unplug more communications devices by making the Internet available just about everywhere and letting people talk to each other more easily than ever...

Dennis Eaton, chairman of the Wi-Fi Alliance, has turned his love of wireless into the pursuit of safe, interoperable enterprise gear. Via [nwfusion.com]

Rural broadband has been given a boost by the UK Government's decision to free up a key radio frequency. Via [news.bbc.co.uk]