Today’s New York Times features an article on WiFi telephones. These are mobile devices that can place telephone calls over an 802.11b connection by using VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). While these are similar to Skype phones that connect to a computer with a USB plug, WiFi phones are cordless. Here are some links to WiFi phones from Netgear and Belkin. The current models run Skype.The battery life of a WiFi phone is somewhat limited, because WiFi signals require more battery power than cell phones. A user might get only one or two hours of talk time on a WiFi phone. On the other hand, if there are free WiFi networks available, the user may be saving a lot of money on their calls.
WiFi phone users may have problems roaming from one access point to the next. The cell phone network is built to handle mobile users, as the network can hand-off a call from one tower to another as the caller walks, rides or drives across a coverage area. WiFi networks assume that the users will stay within the access point’s coverage area.
The article offers some compelling reasons why anyone who owns a WiFi access point should encrypt its signal. Encryption doesn’t stop other people from seeing or using your signal. WEP or WPA just makes it less convenient for a freeloader. Running an unencrypted WiFi router is like keeping the front door unlocked.
As I discussed on October 31, only about 10 percent of WiFi access points included in a recent survey ran WPA. Sixty percent of the access points found in this survey were unencrypted.
Users should run WPA in its pre-shared key (PSK) mode at home if their computer and WiFi access point supports that standard. The older WEP standard is what the university uses on its wireless network. However, WEP is almost trivial to crack with freely available software. Once someone gets the WEP key to a connection, they can monitor data sent to and from the connected computers.
Check the router’s documentation to learn how to enable WPA encryption. Before doing the setup for WPA-PSK, check the computers that will be connected, as older models may not support WPA without a software or hardware upgrade.
Tags: computer, data, free, hardware, Internet, mobile, network, power, Skype, software, technology, university, USB, VoIP, WiFi
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