New News For Old Wi-FiNew News For Old Wi-Fi

As with most good technologies, Wi-Fi has gone from new and awesome to old and boring. You go to Best Buy, plunk down a hundred bucks and 15 minutes after you get home, you have a wireless network, just like all your neighbors. Then again some interesting applications for Wi-Fi emerging. Here's one: a cordless phone with a range of two miles.

At least, that's ParkerVision's claim. For quite a while, the company has been selling Wi-Fi routers and interface cards with home-grown technology that the company claims gives the equipment an open-field range of one mile. A recent review I read showed the equipment performed reasonably well. The two-mile cordless phone will use the same technology when it's released early next year.

The company says it will send me a unit to review in a month or so and I'll give it a hard look-see and let you know. But a few caveats are already in order. For one, the company is reasonably forthright in noting that the two-mile range is an "open field" range. That means no impediments between the phone and its base station, which will drastically cuts down on range. Also, ParkerVision hasn't released pricing for the phone. Their Wi-Fi equipment is slightly more expensive than standard 802.11g, so it'll be interesting to see how they price the phone.

I also will be curious to see whether the phone causes radio interference with existing Wi-Fi equipment. That's already an issue since 2.4 GHz cordless phones, which are the most common type, often interfere with 2.4 GHz wireless networks, which also are common.

Increasing Wi-Fi range is a good thing if you live in a big house or have other specific needs. I've recently been testing and using Wi-Fi equipment from Belkin that does a good job of both increasing range and speed, although I still wonder if it's worth the extra money for many people.

Note that other cordless phones will be available before long that have built-in Wi-Fi for making voice-over-IP calls. The ParkerVision phone won't be that exotic -- it only uses Wi-Fi as a replacement for older, shorter-range cordless technology. But a cordless phone with long, long range would be an extremely attractive tool that would enable you to wander around the neighborhood and not miss any calls. Seems like a good idea to me -- if it works.