If you haven’t already guessed, we’re talking about wireless. In the past few years, this technology has found its way into almost every type of personal electronic device, from PCs to PDAs, garnering lots of hype in the process. But the excitement surrounding wireless isn’t unfounded. Wireless data networking is still in its infancy, and many of the technologies that are just coming out of the research stage could fundamentally change the way information travels around the globe. Will it affect you directly? You bet. But wireless is such a welter of new names and acronyms, it’s sometimes hard to tell the players without a program. To help, we’ve put together a little primer on what’s out there now–and what’s coming–in wireless.

Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi goes by many names–802.11, AirPort, wireless LAN and Wi-Fi itself. Any of these variations work by using a short-to-medium range high-bandwidth radio transceiver to tap into networks at speeds of 11 mbps (million bits per second) to more than 100 mbps, up to 350 feet from a base station. (That’s fast: by contrast, a dial-up Internet connection is only 56 thousand bits per second). Today, the Wi-Fi cards most commonly found in laptops have the specifications 802.11a, b, and g. These three standards tap into different frequencies and allow for varying bandwidths; most of the newest cards are able to work with multiple standards.

There are ambitious plans for Wi-Fi technology. Look for cell phones sporting new 802.11 software standards (designated by letters e, h, and i) to hit the market in the next year or two, allowing people to tap into local area networks (LANs) for high-speed Internet surfing and voice-over-Internet-protocol (VoIP) telephone calls. Also, expect Wi-Fi to hit the home entertainment market soon, connecting DVD players, stereos, TVs, computers, TiVos, and cable boxes into one contiguous home entertainment extravaganza. Sharp already sells a portable television monitor you can carry anywhere in the house and, via Wi-Fi, pick up signals from your cable system or DVD player.

Bluetooth

The computer geeks who make wireless technology happen have gone to great lengths to ensure that Wi-Fi and Bluetooth do not get confused with each other. Wi-Fi, they say, is for hard-core networking (the aforementioned “wireless LAN”), whereas Bluetooth functions as a personal-area network (PAN). The simplest way of thinking about Bluetooth, however, is as a “cable replacement” technology. In other words, every device that can be plugged into your computer or into another device can be connected wirelessly when equipped with Bluetooth.

The first major rollout of Bluetooth technology has been for cell phones, sparking an industry for such dubiously useful accessories as wireless headsets for your wireless phone. But Bluetooth is also beginning to show up in cars (your Bluetooth phone can play through your car stereo for hand-free operation), and home theater systems (no more speaker cable to the rear channels). Look soon for Bluetooth in MP3 players–it will let you pull music off your computer, then play it through your home or car stereo wirelessly. Eventually, say the tech pundits, even your toaster, refrigerator and washing machine will be communicating with each other to keep your house in order.

Cellular Data Networks

People in the United States love their cell phones, but few think of them as data terminals. This presents a challenge for American cellular providers, who have been rolling out higher and higher bandwidth networks in an effort to lure people into using multimedia messaging services (MMS). With MMS you can send messages containing text, music, pictures, even video, or use data services that sell ring-tones, games, directions, restaurant info–you name it. Asians and Europeans go crazy for this stuff, which probably explains why the progress towards third-generation (3G) networks–which are optimized for high-speed transfer of data and multimedia content–has progressed much faster on those continents.

Another reason that Europe and Asia are ahead in wireless phones is that they chose a single technology to standardize on. Here in the U.S. there are two technologies among 3G networks: the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). The U.S. is fairly evenly split between the two: AT&T Wireless, T-Mobile, and Cingular are in the GSM camp, while Sprint and Verizon are in the CDMA camp.

Somewhere on the way to third-generation networks, many GSM carriers adopted 2.5G, which can transfer data at speeds anywhere from about 50 kbps to 130 kbps. The eventual standard for GSM (which should begin rollout towards the end of this year) is called W-CDMA, and should be much faster, with rates of around 2 megabits per second.

For their part, the CDMA carriers in the United States are already offering 3G services (called CDMA2000), which transfer data at rates anywhere from 40 to 144 kbps. Verizon has also launched a wireless card for laptops that taps into its higher speed networks around Washington, D.C. and Southern California. They claim average speeds of 300 to 500 kbps. Will anyone want all of this? Who knows? But one thing’s for sure: none of it does much to improve the quality of a standard phone call.

BlackBerry

Sometimes the simplest solution is the most effective. BlackBerry machines, created by Research In Motion (RIM), use a minimalist philosophy. Rather than searching for ways to force more and more bandwidth over the airwaves, RIM’s goal is to get maximum flexibility from minimal bandwidth. In fact, RIM doesn’t even operate its own network, it piggybacks on the wireless networks of other carriers, and customizes BlackBerry machines to suit whatever standards are necessary. You can, for example, buy a Blackberry machine that operates on T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T Wireless, Cingular, or Nextel networks. Some BlackBerry machines work as e-mail-only devices, others work as phones and handheld devices as well.

BlackBerrys essentially use wireless carriers to extend the reach of the local area networks (LANs) that companies use for e-mail and internal Web access. Any company can attach a BlackBerry server to its own server. The BlackBerry server then operates inside the company firewall, duplicating e-mail sent to inboxes on the company server to inboxes on each employee’s BlackBerry device. (In fact, anywhere a cellular phone works, BlackBerrys can tap into e-mail). BlackBerrys can even surf the Web using the company LAN. They benefit from all the protections of the firewall, but compress information to move it back and forth between the BlackBerry machine to the company server quickly and efficiently. RIM is moving towards licensing BlackBerry functionality into non-BlackBerry devices and integrating the company’s low-bandwidth method of transferring data into a variety of other machines. Which prompts the question: Is BlackBerry a machine, or a philosophy?

The Next Big Thing

It’s one thing to do away with the data cables in your home, but it’s quite another thing altogether to do away with the cables coming into your home. That’s precisely the premise behind WiMAX technology (also known as 802.16), which will hit the market in 2005 and will function as a sort of long-range Wi-Fi connection, or, more importantly, a wireless alternative to cable modems and DSL. WiMAX can offer wireless connectivity at up to 30 miles from an antenna at speeds of up to 75 mbps (maximum bandwidth is achieved at under 5 miles). For perspective, cable modems bring in data at just over 1 mbps.

Initially, look for WiMAX to offer “last mile” services to areas where cable and phone companies don’t offer broadband Internet connections–imagine a fixed antenna on the outside of your house picking up the WiMAX signal, while a conventional Wi-Fi network distributes it throughout your home. Although WiMAX will primarily be used for broadband Internet access, it could eventually deliver digital TV as well. Eventually, expect to see cheap WiMAX cards for laptops that allow high-speed wireless broadband almost anywhere.

Dark Horse

A dark horse wireless candidate is satellite, now primarily used by consumers for television. While in the past home satellite broadband only worked one way and required a dedicated telephone line to upload information, there are now two-way systems. Satellite broadband remains far more expensive than cable modem or DSL, however, and may have a hard time competing except in isolated areas.

If you think you’ve finally caught the wave (or wavelength) of the future by now, think again. Another wireless standard, 802.20, is also in development. It promises all the benefits of WiMAX 802.16, but will be optimized for high-speed mobility–just in case you need broadband wireless access while traveling on a bullet train at 150 miles per hour.

If the various forms of WiMAX perform as promised, they may well make many of the world’s cellular companies look back a bit ruefully at their multi-billion dollar investments in 3G. But they will also finally deliver truly ubiquitous Internet access, always on, wherever you go-and that will change the nature of the Web in ways we likely can’t even now imagine.