UNDER THE HOOD
The air is thick with competing wireless standards for everything from cell phones to smart kitchens. For short-range device-to-device applications, the big name promises to be Bluetooth. For cable-free local area networking, think Wireless Ethernet - known at the IEEE as 802.11, but more familiar to consumers as the heartbeat of the Apple AirPort. On the PC side, Wireless Ethernet options include Aironet, which makes the 4800B family of base stations ($1,495) and radio cards ($295) pictured here. To share files wirelessly with a small business team, only the radio cards are needed. A base station will boost the range and tap into the Internet or a larger corporate intranet. Rising throughput and falling prices make 802.11 the wireless networking standard to beat at both office and home. Here's a look at how Aironet works:
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