Can You Live without WiFi?

70 years ago, psychologist Abraham Maslow published his pyramid theory on human motivation called "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs." At the top of the pyramid is self-actualization. Before this can be achieved, a person needs things like esteem, belonging, safety, and basics like food and water. Because people change, we feel that it's time to update Maslow's need pyramid and add a new layer: WiFi.

In all seriousness, a human being can likely survive just fine without WiFi. In fact, over half of the world's population does not have access to the Internet. However, for those of us that use the Internet, we know how easy it is to become dependent upon it, so much so that we can't accomplish even the most basic tasks without first checking our online notifications. Believe it or not, Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) is a real psychological illness experienced by 5-to-10% of all web surfers according to a 2007 study from Harvard. We're sure that if Maslow were alive today he would prescribe faster Internet to a modern person wanting to achieve self-actualization. Therefore, faster WiFi may be just what the doctor ordered for us to actualize our true potential!

For businesses, having access to a faster Internet connection will help to get more work done and therefore increase profits. This is why Kansas City saw an influx of startup entrepreneurs after Google launched its ultra-fast Google Fiber Internet service in KC back in 2011. Google Fiber is a fiber-to-the-premises service that can blow off your digital socks at 1 Gbit/s. Think of all that your company can accomplish with that kind of an Internet connection, and if you can get that speed over WiFi then the possibilities would be even greater!

The average Internet speed in America is 8.6 Mbs, and most of us are probably living in the land of 100 Mbps at best. Therefore, it may be difficult for many of us to conceptualize the speeds of Google Fiber. However, improving Internet speed is a good goal for any business because a super-fast connection makes it possible for a business to increase its mobile capabilities and take greater advantage of cloud computing, which includes data storage, data backup and recovery, hosted business applications, VoIP communication solutions, and more. Basically, faster Internet speed will give your business the ability to utilize more of these solutions that can grow your company.

If you do happen to have access to a fast Internet connection, then the fastest wireless router on the market is 802.11ac, advertising speeds of 1.3 Gbps, which means that its actual working speeds are more like 400-800 Mbps. Now, for those of us living in the land of 100 Mbps, that's fast, but it's not Google Fiber fast. A business can still experience limitations with even this kind of WiFi speed. For example, if a medium-sized company needs their entire staff to participate in a web conference using mobile devices, then even an 802.11ac wireless router couldn't handle this kind of traffic.

Enter the next generation of WiFi, IEEE 802.11ac-2013. Taking advantage of the 5 GHz band, the new 802.11ac-2013 improves upon the speeds of the previous generation by up to 10 times! In the 5 GHz band, the IEEE 802.11ac-2013 is advertising ridiculously fast data rates of up to 7 Gbps. IEEE explains how 802.11ac-2013 uses broader channels to deliver data faster by adding "channel bandwidths of 80 MHz and 160 MHz with both contiguous and non-contiguous 160 MHz channels for flexible channel assignment."

Another way that this faster WiFi speed is achieved is with Beamforming Technology. Unlike the standard WiFi technology which broadcasts signals evenly and in all directions, Beamforming Technology concentrates the signal and beams it directly to the device. In order to prevent wireless traffic jams that could potentially occur from multiple devices being used in one spot, IEEE uses a new technology that supports "multiple concurrent down-link transmissions, referred to as 'multi-user multiple-input, multiple-output' (MU MIMO). By using smart antenna technology, MU MIMO enables more efficient spectrum use, higher system capacity and reduced latency by supporting up to four simultaneous user transmissions. This is particularly useful for client devices with a limited number of antennas, such as smartphones and tablets."

You may be salivating at the mouth to sign up for Google Fiber and hook up an 802.11ac-2013 wireless router to it, but the new 802.11ac-2013 is not expected to be released until the end of 2014, and Google Fiber is currently only available in Kansas City, Austin, and Provo. However, you don't have to move or wait a year for your business to benefit from faster Internet. If your wireless routers are even a few years old, you may be able to see dramatic improvements with your WiFi by upgrading to new routers. You can also check with your ISP to find out if they have faster Internet plans available for businesses and shop around for a new ISP if they don't.

If there's a way to improve your Internet speeds, then k_Street Consulting, LLC can max it out for you. Give us a call at (202) 640-2737 to learn more. After all, your mental health may depend on it.