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Unwired!
"Wow! Look there," he said as eight lines of data flicked on to the laptop's screen. "One, two, three … eight of them at South High School."
Later, Milliren, a systems administrator at the University of Pittsburgh, could barely contain his excitement in Oakland, when he was briefly able to access the welcome page of Carnegie Mellon University's wireless network while stopped at a red light. Milliren, 32, lacked the password to enter the system, and he swears he doesn't try to break into the networks he finds — this is, after all, just for fun.
"I love war driving," he said. "It's fun. It's a chance to go out with other people who are into this stuff, listen to music and see what's out there."
The goal of Milliren's outing — dubbed "war driving" by early adopters of wireless technology — is to let the world know that wireless networks do, indeed, exist. Any new wireless networks he's able to locate will be posted on Pittsburgh's Wireless Community, an online publication edited by former Pittsburgh resident Drew Selley at www.pghwireless.com. Selley moved to Boston to work as a computer consultant, but still keeps strong ties to the city and hopes to move back someday.
Whether you're on the cutting edge of technology or bragging to your friends that you finally upgraded to broadband from dial-up Internet access, chances are, wireless Internet access will be a part of your future. Demand already is increasing. Last year, 8 million wireless access cards were shipped — nearly one for every three laptop computers shipped — and the number has been growing steadily since 1994.
"Once it does reach the saturation point in the mainstream, it will change the way we live," Selley said. "A lot of people don't realize it right now, but it will change the way we use the Internet beyond anybody's comprehension — just like dial-up access did way back when."
While WiFi, as wireless networking is called, is just now becoming mainstream, Selley has been talking about accessing the Internet from almost anywhere since 1996.
"I have wanted to unwire the city of Pittsburgh for quite a long time now," Selley said. "Until recently, whenever I talked about doing that people looked at me as if I had three heads."
To prove that wireless networks exist and are being used, Selley has been taking data collected by war drivers like Milliren and mapping where wireless networks are located in the greater Pittsburgh area. Like most of the content he develops, the map is available on his Web site.
It's unclear if the message is being heard outside of the WiFi community, but at the very least, the local office of the FBI has taken notice.
In July, a memo from Pittsburgh-based FBI Agent Bill Shore about potential security risks presented by war drivers was widely circulated through Internet circles. Shore, who included links to articles by Milliren and Selley on Pittsburgh's Wireless Community, cautioned businesses that had wireless networks to implement security measures.
"Identifying the presence of a wireless network may not be a criminal violation, however, there may be criminal violations if the network is actually accessed," Shore wrote. "At this point, I am not aware of any malicious activity that has been reported to the FBI here in Pittsburgh, however, you are cautioned regarding this activity if you have implemented a wireless network in your business."
Selley concedes that security is a major hurdle to the widespread adoption of wireless networking, and it is possible someone could use the map on his site to hack into corporate computer systems. He said a future version of the map will clearly differentiate access points that are open to the public from access points that are off limits.
"They're worried because a lot of small, medium and large businesses are starting to deploy this stuff. And the possibility does exist that some script kiddies or hacker dudes will say 'Hey, there's a network here. Let's break into it,'" Selley said. "There's that possibility, but that's not the purpose."
Danette L. O'Connell knows mainstream users won't adopt the technology until it's proven secure. While Selley and Milliren may not have sinister motives, there's little to prevent other computer users with access to inexpensive wireless technologies from breaking into computer networks.
"Say your accessing a network in a coffee shop that isn't secure. People can essentially go in and take data off of your laptop," said O'Connell, who founded Grok Technology Inc. in April 2001.
Grok hopes to unveil a secure, wireless network in Oakland next month. Users will be able to subscribe by the day, week, month or year and gain access to the secure network Grok is developing anywhere from the Wyndham Hotel in south Oakland to the Carnegie Museum. Much like the way cellular phone companies started offering service in dense areas and moved to provide nearly universal coverage, O'Connell is already eyeing a public, wireless network for Downtown and the Waterfront in Homestead.
Grok, which means "fully understanding," also offers private networks to corporations. O'Connell said the company has developed a seven-layer security protocol that makes the wireless networks as secure as the standard wired network most people are now familiar with.
Milliren notes that there are security threats with every new type of technology: telephone conversations can be tapped, computers with wired connections can be broken into and cell phone signals can be intercepted. That, however, should not prevent people from considering adopting the technology.
"Businesses had better think long and hard about the security issues, because security is not, at this point, inherent to the protocol," he said. "But at the same time, there are a lot of different applications for it. For example, you could set up a hot point in the board room and everyone could tote their laptop in and be connected."
George Heinitsch, chief technology officer for 3 Rivers Connect, is optimistic about the future of WiFi in Pittsburgh. The nonprofit group partnered with Grok earlier this year to demonstrate public wireless Internet service in Mellon Square and Market Square.
"Our feeling is wireless Internet access for the mobile user is key to the region's economic development efforts," Heinitsch said. "We're envisioning students and professionals taking advantage of this service. You could take a laptop into Oakland — or, ideally, anywhere in the city — and know you're going to have Internet access no matter where you go."
Selley, who worked for an Internet service provider before leaving Pittsburgh, said he likes Grok's ideas but is not optimistic that corporate interests will ultimately unleash WiFi to the masses. Instead, he see grass roots efforts like his own bringing WiFi into the mainstream.
Part of the problem, he said, stems from the fact that a number of the larger communications companies have already invested hundreds of millions of dollars in fiber optics to hardwire people to the Internet. And already, the price of the technology has dropped to the point that there are few profits to be squeezed out by companies looking to manufacture wireless cards and access points.
Selley also is among the growing group of individuals who have set up their own "hot spots" allowing people wireless access. He and Milliren set one up in Milliren's South Side home, with plans to add more in the future. It's the equivalent of setting up a cellular transmission tower and allowing people to use it for free.
"There's not as much money in it, the way there is in cellular, where the companies have a stranglehold on it," Selley said. "It's also really expensive for people to pay for the roof rights on commercial buildings, where the grass-roots efforts don't have to fight as much to install the access points."
Selley acknowledges his prediction that grass-roots efforts will lead the wireless revolution is bold. And Downtown investment research firm Parker Hunter, which released a report on the future of wireless technologies in April, would disagree with him.
The report outlined potential winners (makers of wireless hardware products and any start-up that can solve security concerns) and potential losers (cable equipment and service providers and mobile cellular service providers) in the coming wireless revolution.
"In short, we believe that (wireless area networks) and (voice-over IP) are essential components of enterprise networks in the new millennium," the report said. "We think that rising demand benefits key suppliers of these technologies, especially those lacking exposure to legacy technologies prone to replacement."
| Wireless technologies |
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