 On the Net
with Chris Goh
The brave new world of wireless
In one the bravest moves I've made this year, I decided for the first time to forgo a telephone line into my new house. However it may not seem so brave when I tell you I can still receive calls and ring people, though it is not with my mobile phone. I went wireless with a company called Unwired and I use VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) using the internet services of Unwired and a VOIP provider to relay my phone service over the internet into a conventional phone network.
Before I explain the technology a little more, let me tell you the benefits.
- I don't get any line or phone rental charges.
- I can pick up my phone and travel anywhere with it and take it with me when I move.
- Anyone in Australia can give me a phone call for the price of a local call even if I take my phone overseas. The particular provider I am with also has access points in Florida, Toronto and New Zealand so they can also give me a call for the price of a local phone call.
- I can get my Voicemail emailed to me or hear them online with anything that has internet access.
- I can also use any computer with a sound card to ring and receive phone calls.
VOIP has been taken up in both the US and Europe and can be accessed by anyone who has an internet connection. VOIP quality, especially on a 128K + ADSL connection, is as good as your conventional line. I also took the step of using wireless internet access, an area that is maturing around the world. Good wireless coverage has only really happened in Australian cities this year, with the Unwired product currently having the greatest coverage in the Sydney metro area. The tricky part about wireless products is that different wireless providers use different wireless technologies and learning the pros and cons of each is dependant on how you want to use your wireless access. The real stepping stone will be if WiMax, a standards based protocol for wireless, gets ratified in Australia. Tests are already underway in the Northern Rivers and though some wireless service providers use earlier versions of this standard, many still don't. The other technology we mentioned late last year is iBurst. It uses GSM technology like mobile phones to deliver internet access. iBurst generally has longer range and you can access your internet on the fly, whereas with Unwired you need to rest your wireless modem for 20 seconds to regain the signal. The reason I went with Unwired (besides better coverage in the western suburbs) is that for VOIP the speed and throughput of WiMax is consistent whilst with iBurst you don't know from one minute to the next how much bandwidth you have, even if you don't move your receiver.
As this technology matures, you'll be sure we will cover it here, and if Europe and the US is any indication, conventional telephone lines may be severely challenged by new service providers.
Hotnews
A new employee of Google has sparked some controversy after writing a Blog about his orientation and comparing the search engine giant with his previous employee, Microsoft. What was interesting was the Blog was pulled days later, and reappeared amended. Blogs are becoming a sensitive area, where employees publicly voice their opinion on their employers. There have already been instances where employees have been fired due to their publications.
MySQL has become a very popular Database alternative for a large number of web developers because it is open source and free. A new worm called MySpool has been infecting MySQL systems using the standard open port of 3306. The worm doesn't do anything immediately but recruits the machine to become a DOS attacker, and with the shear number of infections, experts say an organisation the size of Microsoft could be brought down.
The writer of the Blaster Virus which focused Denial Of Service (DOS) attacks on Microsofts website has been given 18 months in a low security prison.
Brandchannel.com conducts surveys every year to list the top brands that are identifiable around the world, and this year, Apple takes the top of the ladder, trumping last year's winner, Google.
After a couple of troubled years OzeMail has slowly climbed out of their MCI/WorldNet association to also put their foot forward in the wireless field. However, a fellow ISP, iiNet, has now formally announced their interest into buying Ozemail.
Hotsites
- bc.whirlpool.net.au
- To learn more about the broadband solutions and what they mean, go to Whirlpool. The latest news, and one of the best online forums on broadband from DSL to wireless are all here, including a list of service providers.
- www.walkabout.com.au
- Our friends at Fairfax have put together a travel guide to Australia, with everything from maps to accommodation information to flight details.
- www.teachers.ash.org.au
- Well back at school for many kids this week. This resource is for teachers with excellent links to a number of resources for teachers and children.
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