Week 6: The World of Wireless

a.      Thing #14 Our wiring closet (just for the fun of it!)

Let's start the "wireless" discussion by talking about wires! Have you ever taken an exciting tour of our wiring closet? Well now’s your chance! Take a minute to go into the back part of the Book Nook and open up the black box that is our wiring closet. This contains all sorts of equipment for running our Internet, Polaris, and wireless services. The main things you need to know to make sense of this mess are:

·         The top row with the green cables coming out of it is our patch panel. Wires go from this panel into one of the others below.

·         The second row with the green cables is the OCPL switch (sometimes called Metronet). Cables going from the top row into this row are hooked up to the OCPL’s Internet and Polaris.

·         The giant black box at the bottom left is the UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply). This is the battery that keeps the network running if the power goes out. This is also the machine that either I or technical services might ask you to reboot if there is a problem with our networks. You would simply hold down the button marked "Reset" until everything powers down and then back up again.

·         The silver box on the bottom right is our public Internet switch, and the blue box above it is our wireless router.

Thing #15 Data plan vs. wireless

Did you know that “The world's first wireless telephone conversation occurred in 1880, when Alexander Graham Bell and Charles Sumner Tainter invented and patented the photophone, a telephone that conducted audio conversations wirelessly over modulated light beams (which are narrow projections of electromagnetic waves)”? (This is from a Wikipedia page on wireless service, which mercifully I won’t make you read!) The term “wireless” really encompasses all sorts of devices and services in addition to Internet and cell phones.

Wireless service is broadcast from a router, which uses radio waves to send out and receive signals. Each signal that gets broadcast by an Internet or wireless connection has an IP Address, which is sort of like your home address. It's difficult to pin down exact location using this address, but you can get pretty close. The IP Address of Central’s computers that use Polaris always begins with 10.220.124, but the last numbers are within a range, so the complete number would look something like: 10.220.124.11 or 10.220.124.216 – not exactly the same for each computer, but the first three sets of numbers never changes. Most things on our Marcellus network starts with 192.167, and the last two or three numbers vary.

3G and 4G stand for “Third Generation” and “Fourth Generation.” It’s the shortened term for the standards put forth by the Internet Telecommunication Union that Internet and cell service providers must adhere to. Any company that advertises 3G or 4G service is really just telling you that they are contractually obligated to provide the most up-to-date and fastest service that is available. LTE stands for “Long Term Evolution,” and is part of another set of standards that can only be used across a 4G network, and basically has a goal of increasing service speed through digital processing. So if you’re thinking that this is just a bunch of technical jargon and that companies name their networks things like 3G just to trick you into thinking they are fancier, you’re correct! Signals are broadcast from cell towers owned by companies like AT&T and Verizon, but you have to pay for this service. When you buy a smartphone, you are required to buy a data plan to go with it, but service providers have levels of data service and some are cheaper than others or can be shared.

Thing #16 Wi-fi and Bluetooth peripherals

Okay, now we’re done with the technical mumbo-jumbo, so it’s on to the fun stuff you can do with all these signals in the air! Some other things that wireless technology is good for:

Wireless mouse and keyboard – Not only can you use a wireless keyboard or mouse with your laptop computer, you can also use it with a tablet through what they call “Bluetooth Pairing" (this is what we use for our catalog iPad). Bluetooth is similar to wireless, but it works over much shorter distances, so it’s best for things like keyboards and cell phone headsets that only need to be paired with one device. There are some cool types of Bluetooth keyboards available, like rubber (http://www.sizlopedia.com/2007/07/04/5-flexible-rubber-keyboards-for-your-computer/) and even holographic! (http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/e722/)

Printing and scanning – These devices are also available as either wireless or Bluetooth. You can use these printers to send documents from any wireless-enabled device – computers, laptops, phones, tablets, etc. Bluetooth printers were originally sold with digital cameras so you could make photo prints right from the camera, but now they are also used with smartphones.

Gaming devices – Game systems like Wii, PlayStation, and Xbox have what they call “wireless peripherals” for many of their games. You can get a guitar or microphone, the controllers are usually wireless, and even in a way you are a wireless peripheral for your gaming system! A camera detects your body movements and scores you accordingly, all without the need for pesky wires.