The Cloud. It’s a term which saw considerable attention last year. While the hype has died down a bit, the concept is still one many in the industry continue to explore. This is mostly in terms of computing power. When there is someone not using their computing power, others can draw from it. This creates a more efficient allocation of resources, as it allows heavy users to draw from computing power that would have otherwise gone to waste. The same concept can be applied, really, to Wi-Fi networks. Dana Blankenhorn of SmartPlanet explores the possibilities.
The idea is that Wi-Fi routers could supply bandwidth to other local users when not in use by its owner. So when the owner’s computer is connected and running, no one else can touch the bandwidth — in other words, it would work exactly like now. Except, of course, that the owner could draw from other Wi-Fi routers in the area which are not currently in use. If the tenants in the apartment downstairs are out of town, others in the neighborhood could draw from their bandwidth and realize faster connections. Once the neighbors come home, the bandwidth is theirs again — and they can draw from other unused networks.
Security is one issue that comes to mind with this scheme. It’s not an unreasonable thought, and truth told such a scheme probably wouldn’t work with the current make of routers. Manufacturers would have to start putting out new routers with different security protocol. Blankenhorn sums up the security issue early in the article:
Give each router its own on-off switch, so that it will remain on after the computer it is tied to is turned off. Then provide software in the router to allocate bandwidth, between the local network it’s linked to and the outside world.
This “side channel” would consist of those bits not being used by the home network. If you’re home and downloading software or a movie, in other words, you take all that bandwidth. When you’re away, however, when the computer is off, that bandwidth becomes available to others.
So it would be strictly for bandwidth, not for the network. This should ease the security fears. He also mentions firewall software which could help alleviate security concerns. The overall idea, though, is not to enter another user’s network. It is to utilize his or her unused bandwidth. This would create an efficient computing cloud, perhaps making government-sponsored Wi-Fi clouds unnecessary. After all, why let government do what we ourselves can accomplish?
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