Originally posted by Vulcan
Define "Internet business"? Wireless is an awful medium - if you're talking 802.11 stuff.
b/g is half duplex, prone to interference from: tv senders; microwave ovens; cordless phones; other 802.11 devices with stronger radio's. WEP is easily broken, WPA is breakable, and not all devices support WPA2. The quality and compatibility between various 802.11 devices is also full of problems.
802.11a is better, but suffers from range issues and you cannot amplify the signal (legally).
The newer stanards such as 'n' and 'mimo' are pure snake-oil.
Best rule of thumb is if you can go wired. Wireless is good as a complimentary medium but will always lag against wired networks in performance, stability, and security.
The internet in general isn't exactly secure to begin with. Yes?
And what sort of security is really needed if the primary use is for gaming? Any network, wireless or otherwise isn't going to stop interception of emails unless they're encrypted. In that case, using encryption (as online purchasing, banks etc. use), even open networks are safe, correct?
There's MAC filtering, and that can be sniffed as well.
Is it not true that WEP/WPA and any other encryption gobbles up bandwidth? This limits throughput and as we all know, BW costs money; the more sophisticated the encryption, the more it slows down the system, or isn't that true?
Hotspots such as airports, motels, internet cafe's etc. are popular, but how secure are they? Not much if any at all.
On the other hand, WISPs using proprietary 2.4G systems nullifies all those concerns.
So, in one sense I understand what you're saying, but IMO much talk about security is overblown as most people (end users) don't use encryption with their personal internet surfing to begin with; that's the real issue.
I was about 20 miles from the tower, used a 1/4 watt transceiver. Is that considered long range? Since moving and now using cable, the friends that still use wireless (same ISP as I had) have consistently better latency than I do. No doubt the quality of the provider/equipment is what will determine the quality of the service, but my experience for the 2+ years using wireless was good. Actually I've had more problems with Charter than Speednetllc.
If security is a big issue, then the potential customer should inquire. WEP/WPA isn't great, but its better than nothing. In reality the end user should be using a firewall in addition to encryption regardless if they're worried about hackers. Other than that, IMO all this talk about security is much ado about nothing for all but the most sensitive data.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
