Competing wireless devices such as cordless phones, audio speakers, or even Apple AirPort access points that operate at 2.4-gigahertz frequencies are not permitted on campus if they cause interference that disrupts the network. On the other hand, wireless experts say the limited battery life of notebook computers is not the barrier to wireless computing that it once was. Yet computing officials still advise students and faculty members to carry extra batteries if they want to run solely off battery power and stay connected wirelessly throughout most of the day. Almost as challenging as designing the networks is the matter of paying for them. Mount Saint Joseph, a private college, took on debt to pay for its wireless network, handheld P.C.'s, and application servers.
Some research institutions are luckier.
If they can offer technical assistance to the manufacturers of wireless devices, the institutions often receive free equipment. Lucent Technologies gave 400 access points and 400 wireless adapters to Carnegie Mellon, in exchange for the voluntary engineering expertise of students and faculty members who were willing to try out the wireless components before they became mainstream. He also questions whether urban universities such as Chicago need to build their own wireless networks. Administrators also acknowledge that it is too early to know whether requiring wireless laptops will relieve the pressure on colleges to keep building computing labs and multimedia classrooms. In the future, computer labs mainly will be places where students go to use more specialized machines, such as graphical and computational workstations, says John E. Kolb, R.P.I.'s dean of computing and information services.