Wireless For Real Estate By Hewlett Packard

Hewlett Packard

Wireless for Real Estate
Ask one hundred agents to define the term wireless, and you'll probably get one hundred different answers. Terms like Hotspots, Wi-Fi™, 3G, and 802.11G, are enough to leave even the most "techno-savvy" real estate professional scratching his head in bewilderment. The good news is wireless can be broken down into 3 simple business applications that can add to your productivity and improve your bottom line.

Personal Area Networks (PANs)
Sometimes referred to as PANs, this type of wireless connects devices within very short distances of each other. Think of PANs as surrogates to cables. In the past, you might need a cable to connect a laptop to a printer. Now, with Bluetooth or Infrared, the cables may no longer be required.

Bluetooth, once considered a "dead" technology, is now becoming a common feature on technology devices. Bluetooth operates in the 2.4-gigahertz spectrum, and connects devices within very short distances of each other (approx. 1' to 50'). If two devices are Bluetooth equipped, for instance a PDA and a printer, they should be able to communicate with each other. Devices that are starting to be equipped with this technology include printers, PDAs, cell phones, laptops, headsets, etc.

Infrared (IR) operates in much the same way as Bluetooth, except that like your television remote control, it uses part of the invisible light spectrum. IR equipped devices communicate within 1' to 15' of each other, with the most typical business application being the beaming of business cards between PDAs. Unfortunately, IR is subject to interference from bright sunlight, or high-efficiency fluorescent lights. It's also a slower transmission method, and does not cover as great a distance as Bluetooth. In general, IR as a communication technology has fallen out of favor and is starting to be replaced by Bluetooth.

So what is a good real estate example of a personal area network? Printing documents from a Bluetooth enabled laptop to a Bluetooth enabled mobile printer. As mobile sales professionals, this application allows you to print flyers, contracts, etc. on the spot, no cables required.

Local Area Networks (LANs)
Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) are referred to under several different categories, including WLAN, Wi-Fi (a.k.a. Wireless Fidelity), Hotspots and 802.11. The good news is all of these terms refer to the same technology. The term WLAN generally refers to being able to access a network (and/or the Internet), without wires, from within an office building, home, or a campus setting.

The most common flavor of this technology is 802.11G, which operates in the 2.4-gigahertz spectrum, and provides up to 54 Mbps of bandwidth between devices. In its simplistic form, you'll need two hardware components to make this work; 1) An 802.11 access point (think of it as a broadcast antenna) and 2) 802.11 wireless PC card for your laptop. For newer laptops and PDAs, 801.11 functionality is frequently built-in, either as a standard feature, or as an option, so the card may not be required. It is important to remember that bandwidth will drop based on the distance from the access point, and that coverage and range will vary depending on building construction materials, and typically maxes out around 150' to 300'.

According to Gartner, there will be more than 24,000 hot spots worldwide by the end of 2003. Some of these hot spots follow "community" or free-use models (i.e. libraries, universities, government entities, etc.), while others follow pay models (i.e. Starbucks, Marriott, Borders, etc.).

A practical real estate example might be a wireless home-office application, that allows you to; 1) Share a broadband connection such as DSL or a cable modem, with other members of your family 2) Access the Internet from anywhere in your house, without cables, perfect for checking email from the breakfast table.

NOTE: Other types of 802.11 hardware, allow you to inexpensively connect multiple offices on a private network, or make the 'last mile' Internet connection to your office or home. Talk to a local IT solution provider for additional details.

Wide Area Networks
Within the context of a mobile Real Estate Sales Professional, Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) refers to the capability of being able to access a network or the Internet, as he or she is out of the office. This is accomplished by connecting to a cellular network (i.e. the same network as your cell phone carrier), and exchanging data on a real-time, wireless basis. The network is available wherever and whenever your cellular signal is present. If your cell phone won't work in a particular area, the odds are your wireless data network will not work.

In the past, this type of service was typically very slow, almost unbearable for anything other than basic text-based email. Today, newer 2.5G or 3G services make sustained data transmissions rates of 56K - 128K* possible, reasonable for getting on the Internet and sending email with modest file attachments. With a notebook or Tablet PC, and an add-on 2.5G or 3.G wireless card, you'll be online in a matter of minutes. A PDA or Tablet PC, with a similar add-on card, would work in a similar fashion.

There are a variety of carriers and service plans available. Just make sure when you order the service that; 1) It operates on one of the newer standards, either 2.5G or 3G, 2) You have adequate coverage within the market where you conduct business - ask for a coverage map, 3) You have a service package that will cover your usage model, and 4) You have the appropriate hardware, for instance a laptop, Tablet PC, or PDA with available PCMCIA slot, for the wireless card to work in.

A practical real estate example could be the ability to check email on your notebook from your car between appointments, or the ability to demo your website on your Tablet PC while in a listing presentation with potential clients.

See www.hp.com/go/wan for more information.
* Speeds will vary based on signal strength and network traffic.