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June 27, 2007

internet

Wireless woes for the office environment

Posted Jun. 27, ’07, 10:30 AM PT by Kate Marshall
Category | Internet

Wireless.pngWhen it comes to mobile computing, there is one overarching necessity: the lack of wires. You can’t get very far if you’re tethered to a wall outlet, Ethernet port, or telephone jack. Living a truly wireless life has its drawbacks though—batteries run out of power, and wired network connections are more secure (and usually stronger) than wireless networks. It’s little surprise then, that companies are inherently frustrated by the negative characteristics inherent in Wi-Fi.

As The Wall Street Journal illustrates, many businesses run into the same potholes when they try to embrace that newfangled fad known as “wireless networking” in their offices: poor signal reception and strength; unauthorized users mooching off the office Wi-Fi; and constant interference from other devices:

That’s what happened when doctors with Carilion Health Systems, a Roanoke, Va.-based health company with 100 doctor offices and eight hospitals, began using a new wireless endoscopy capsule last year. When swallowed by a patient, the capsule — a small device about the size of a vitamin tablet — wirelessly transmits images to a receiver as it passes through a patient’s system. Carilion’s doctors were given a demo capsule early last year, but they hadn’t met with the hospital’s network administrators to inspect the device before they began testing it.

You can guess what happened next: the capsule’s transmitter disrupted the clinic’s wireless network, kicking PCs and handheld scanners off the network—devices which often contained medical records. Network administrators had use Wi-Fi meters to find the capsule so it could be turned off. Good grief.

[Via Slashdot]


1 Comments

Kip Mercure said:

Not likely, the endoscopic cameras operate at 433 MHz while Wi-Fi starts at 2450 MHz.

June 28, 2007 7:23 AM

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