Today, businesses up and down the same building can log onto the Internet without a single cable running through the walls. Today, a company can install a sensor in a car engine that, when removed after an accident and plugged into to a measuring portal, reveals how hard the car was hit.
Wireless wonders are the next wave of technology, and Hampton Roads is along for the ride.
One pioneer company is developing a leading-edge wireless technology, called Bluetooth, so that sensors in industrial machines can radio their health needs to their maintenance crews. Unlike the latter two, wireless access allows companies to offer broadband without digging new lines or leasing old ones. For the customer, a built-out network means using a portable antenna to reach the Internet outside of the office, whether in a traffic jam or the beachfront. Still, some local wireless companies have connected their futures to the field of unconnectedness. A few hope to merge all of Hampton Roads onto their own wireless highways.