Wireless networking: Trend may be what stealing cable TV was in the '80s

Call it a wireless revolution.

The growing popularity of Wi-Fi, or 802.11, technology has taken households across the country by storm.

Wireless routers and modems were listed as some of the most popular gift items this holiday season, as they are used to network computers in homes and offices without the need for tangled cables. However, an unexpected movement has grown out of this trend that has raised some controversy about making these networks public.

In apartment complexes, dormitories and neighborhoods, people are using Wi-Fi technology to set up communal wireless networks with friends. The process allows multiple users to take advantage of one high-speed broadband Internet connection, sparing many from shelling out the extra bucks for a connection of their own.

Although this trend has irked some broadband companies, opinions are mixed as to whether the new trend has become what stealing cable TV was in the '80s.

For just a few hundred dollars, and a little twiddling with the antennas, anyone with a broadband Internet connection can establish a wireless network that spans several blocks.

Doug, who asked that his entire name not be used for fear of reprisal from his broadband carrier, said he and five other people shared a broadband cable connection in his apartment complex.

"It was cheap, like $10 a month for high-speed Internet access," he said. Working in video production, Doug said he and his friends did not make enough to afford high-speed access. "Without (a communal network) I probably wouldn't have had Internet access. I probably would have been forced to go to the library or something."

Now with a higher-paying job, Doug said he can afford his own connection. But being a part of a communal network also introduced him to wireless networking, which he now has in his home for personal use.

In larger cities, such as New York and San Francisco, the movement has become so big that communal broadband organizations have sprouted, with the vision to blanket these metropolises with free wireless Internet access for the masses. Groups like NYCWireless boast memberships of more than 1,000 people who hope to offer free wireless access to areas from high-profile Grand Central Station to the most impoverished parts of the Big Apple. In California, the Bay Area Wireless User Group offers an online forum for people looking to set up their own networks.

At least one company, AT&T Broadband, has called communal networks robbery on the "Information Superhighway." In larger cities, AT&T has indicated it conducts regular sweeps of areas, checking for those abusing broadband connections.