FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions

*taken in part from: Wireless Technologies at e-School News

*I have heard of Wi-Fi, what is it?*

Wireless technology—data delivered via radio frequencies—goes by many names and enables different capabilities. Known as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or 802.11, it’s allowing everyone from homeowners to students to create networks with ubiquitous, always-on internet access. Numerous places from Starbucks to airports to the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Park at 55 Water Street in NYC and the South Street Sea Port have wireless access. A group called NYC Wireless is currently seeking to provide Free Public Wireless Internet information by posting maps of wireless connectivity points in NYC by listing service to mobile users in public spaces throughout the New York City metro area.

*How are schools using it?*

Schools are augmenting their existing computer labs with mobile, moveable laptop carts called COWS [computers on wheels] that allow all students in a classroom to browse the web or access educational resources simultaneously. The cost is relatively cheap—little more than the actual cost of the notebook computers themselves.

WCTS has been using wireless COWS since 2000.

Other schools, most notably colleges and universities, are on the quest for building- or campus-wide internet access via wireless local or wide area networks (LANs or WANs). Apple, Cisco, and others made announcements in late February of 2003 that may clear the way for schools to install very robust wireless LANs that rely on a new kind of high-speed wireless technology, called 802.11g.

WCTS is presently building a campus-wide wireless network to be used by both faculty and students using Dell Axims and laptops.

*What are the benefits of using wireless?*

Teachers are enthusiastic about wireless networking because it brings technology into the classroom, where student learning takes place. The technology is much more easily integrated into learning when it can be used as part of the lesson. Wireless devices can be integrated seamlessly into the lesson plan, requiring less change on the part of teachers. And they’re highly portable, allowing students to move around the room and collaborate more freely. Students can make full use of computer networking in the classroom, using wireless devices to communicate with each other, solve problems together, and access information in real time.

*How are schools going wireless?*

There are two main ways schools are using wireless networks—some are creating fixed wireless LANs, and others are outfitting buildings with shared mobile wireless computing labs. The main difference lies in the location of the access points. The two basic components of a wireless network are access points and network interface cards (NICs). The access point is a transmitter that beams a signal to and from individual notebook computers. It communicates with NICs installed on each notebook. The stream of radio waves flowing between the access point and the NIC replaces the cable connecting the computer to a network drop. Where one network drop in a classroom was able to link one computer to the internet using a cable, it now can serve 16 to 25 notebooks equipped with wireless NIC cards via a single access point. The exact number of computers that can be connected to one access point—and the bandwidth, or speed, of the internet connection for any one computer—vary with the particular technology, as well as the architecture and dynamics of the building. This is discussed in more detail later. In a mobile notebook lab, the access point is stationed on a rolling cart that can be wheeled from one room to another, creating an ad-hoc wireless LAN wherever the cart is hooked up to an Ethernet cable. With a fixed wireless network, the access point is embedded in the ceiling of a classroom to give any computer that enters the room wireless access, as long as it’s equipped with a compatible NIC.

*What kind of LAN is WCTS building?*

WCTS is building a fixed indoor wireless LAN. Creating such a pervasive, widespread wireless wide area network (WAN) calls for a combination of fixed indoor wireless solutions. Using this approach, schools can create continuous network access for a defined area—a floor, a building, or even an entire campus. Any student with a wireless-enabled device can access the entire network in one of these areas.

There are many virtues of the fixed indoor wireless deployment: reduced networking costs, viable alternatives to wired access in historic or difficult-to-wire buildings, increased computer-to-student ratio. Ubiquitous, always-on internet access throughout a building or campus, enthusiasts claim, is true “anytime, anywhere” learning. But there are also limitations to creating a building where you can have access anytime, anywhere.Architectural barriers such as concrete walls, electrical conduits, and so on might compromise the range of wireless technologies. It can be hard to predict where the “dead spots” will be until the network is installed.

Have questions? These sites may help.