Practicing the Black Art (08/09)
Get Unleashed With Wireless USB
by Vinny La Bash, vlabash@comcast.net
Member of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc.
USB technology has been around long enough
for folks to feel comfortable with it. It’s the
best kind of technology you can find. Plug it in, and it works.
Sometimes device drivers need to be installed, but every day we move
further away from "Plug and Pray" to true "Plug and Play". It’s
something like electricity. It’s everywhere, but you simply don’t notice
it. USB displaced an antiquated technology which was quite limited in
the number and kinds of devices supported, and often resulted in
software or memory conflicts which were maddeningly difficult to
resolve.
USB has now evolved to a point where devices that
attach themselves to your computer can now connect wirelessly instead of
with a cable. You can’t throw away all your cables today, but total
wireless connections may be closer than most folks think possible.
The latest USB wireless application is based on Ultra
Wideband technology. This was developed specifically for transmitting
information over very short distances using radio waves. It is at least
as fast as wire based USB which can move data at a rate of 480 Mbps.
Don’t try locating your keyboard, mouse or printer more than ten feet
away from the computer however, as transmission speeds slow down
considerably. If you place your peripheral devices at distances of
twenty or thirty feet, you may experience speeds less than 100 Mbps.
There are several manufacturers offering wireless
setups, and new offerings appear almost daily. If you would seriously
like to reduce the clutter of wires around your computer, look for a
wireless hub with multiple radio frequencies to avoid interference with
other wireless transmissions. You don’t want your mouse pointer zipping
around the screen as you’re typing on your keyboard.
Making the switch to wireless is not free, but it
won’t cripple your budget. Stick with quality manufacturers like Belkin.
Check with the manufacturer of your PC or laptop. Their wireless
products are more likely to be designed to integrate with their own
products.
Because the technology is wireless, there is some
preparation necessary on your part, but it’s relatively easy if you’re
careful when following the installation directions. A wireless kit will
have a USB hub as a central control point. Your peripherals connect to
it through USB dongles that attach to a free USB port on your PC.
Communications software controls activity between the adapter and the
hub. The software is basically an application that manages data flow
between communications links.
The future of wireless appears bright. Major players
such as Dell, Toshiba, and Lenovo are now offering wireless USB in there
latest machines. It shouldn’t be long before you see integrated USB
wireless in all desktops and laptops.
Will wireless USB replace Bluetooth? It doesn’t
appear likely because the two technologies are designed for different
purposes. Wireless mice, mobile telephones, headsets, and keyboards are
probably destined to stay within the Bluetooth realm because they have
very low power consumption and transfer speeds. Bluetooth shines in this
area.
Wireless USB is best suited for applications requiring high data
transfer speeds and high power requirements. Streaming video, printer
jobs, and large file transfers are best suited for Wireless USB. Any
application with high throughput is a good candidate for wireless USB.
The two technologies will probably coexist until some kind of connection
standard emerges, but if your devices are wireless, does it make any
difference to a user if the mouse is not connected to Bluetooth or not
connected to USB as long as it works as expected? :
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Copyright 2008. This article is from the September 2008 issue of the
Sarasota PC Monitor, the official monthly publication of the Sarasota
Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., P.O. Box 15889, Sarasota, FL
34277-1889. Permission to reprint is granted only to other non-profit
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