UO moving freely into the age of wireless computer networking

November 4, 2000


By GREG BOLT
The Register-Guard

On the face of it, there's nothing particularly unusual about what Jeff Spradling does down in the basement of the Erb Memorial Union.

He plops down at a table in the billiards hall, the sound of balls clacking in the background, and pulls out his laptop. As soon as the screen lights up he's sending e-mail, downloading class notes and checking Web sites.

UO graduate student Jeff Spradling uses his wireless laptop computer in the basement of the Erb Memorial Union. Photo: WAYNE EASTBURN / The Register-Guard

What is unusual is there are no wires going into his computer. Instead there's an unobtrusive card plugged into the side of his laptop that uses radio signals to connect him to the Internet without being tethered to a phone jack.

"It's an incredible time-saver for me," Spradling, a former Microsoft programmer pursuing a business degree, says of the University of Oregon's new wireless computing network. "Now I don't have to go stand in the (computer) lab and wait for a phone port. I can come here and have my cup of coffee and do everything I need to do."

Using technology akin to cell phones, wireless technology allows data to be sent and received between a communications card plugged into a laptop and a wall- or ceiling-mounted access point that provides the hardwired connection to a network. The UO is one of an increasing number of schools turning to wireless because if offers a less-expensive way of getting students connected to the network as well as the freedom to move around without losing the connection.

It's still relatively new technology, and so far fewer than 60 students have signed up for the service, which is only available in the EMU and the atrium of Willamette Hall. But the UO is planning a big expansion of the system next year, opening it up to many more students and faculty.

Dale Smith, assistant director for network services at the UO, wants to see more students cut the cord. He said the next pieces of campus real estate to go wireless will be the libraries, which are expected to have the service by this spring.

And when Gilbert Hall is remodeled and expanded as the Lillis Business Complex - a $40 million project expected to get under way this spring - the new space will be built with wireless in mind. Classrooms, lecture halls and public areas all will have wireless coverage, but offices will get the usual wired connections as well.

"We're really excited about the technology," Smith said. "And students love this. They think it's the coolest thing."

That's certainly what Spradling, an admitted computerphile, thinks. The wireless network allows him to download or send files in seconds that might take up to an hour or more on the computer at his home near Elmira, where he doesn't have access to a high-speed Internet connection.

"The payoff for me is immense," he says.

One reason Smith and his colleagues at the UO Computing Center are excited about wireless is simple math: There are more than 20,000 people working or attending classes at the university, but only about 5,000 places to sit down and plug in a desktop computer. Wireless networks offer a way to greatly expand access to the university's computer network without having to add new offices or labs and with a minimum of rewiring.

That makes wireless a good deal, even though it's only one-tenth as fast as the wired network. And while it's expensive to install - between $1,500 and $2,500 per access port - that's a lot less than it would cost to wire a building with new wall jacks.

"It just gives us so much more flexibility in terms of providing networking," Smith said.

Wireless networks use the same frequency - 2.4 gigahertz - as some cordless phones. Users have to buy their own wireless communications cards, which cost about $100 each, but there is no fee for using the network.

Only people with a computer account at the UO can use the wireless network, however. Users must register their wireless cards with the Computing Center, and people using unregistered cards are blocked.

The wireless network runs at speeds up to 11 megabits per second, which might seem a little pokey compared to the 100 megabits charging through the university's wired network. But it's still blazingly fast compared to the relatively paltry 56 kilobits offered by typical home Internet services.

And fast access to networks - which link computers to each other and the Internet - is becoming almost as essential to business and education as personal computers themselves. At the UO, students get their grades, register for classes, download class notes and search for library materials via the campus network, as well as surf the Web and send e-mail.

"More and more of the university does its business using networking," Smith said. "Networking is the way information is disseminated to students, so network access is critical."

About the only thing holding up the parade is the technology itself. Smith said better wiring systems, hacker protection and encryption tools are needed before wireless can really take off, but those improvements are expected to hit the market by early 2001.

And as soon as they do, the UO will begin pushing out the boundaries of its wireless territory.

"We think it's a real powerful tool, and we're really excited by it," Smith said.