What's Wrong With Wires?

What's all this fuss about wireless communications? What's wrong with using wires, just as we've
always done? 
Signed, Jack Plugg
Dear Jack: 
There's nothing wrong with wired communications, such as Ethernet, ModBus, or the perennial
favorite, RS-232. And there will always be situations where a wired link makes more sense than a
wireless link. It's just that wireless systems are continually becoming less expensive and more
dependable, making them the better choice in more and more applications.

Here's why. The cost of wired communications—the cost of the wire, the
connectors, and the labor needed to connect point A to point B—has remained constant or has
increased slightly over the years. By contrast, the cost of wireless communications has dropped
dramatically. High-speed wireless radio chips that cost $27 each just three years ago are now
available for around $4. This is largely due to the phenomenon called "Moore's Law", which can be
roughly paraphrased as "Anything built using silicon chips will become exponentially less expensive
over time." And this trend will continue.
At the same time, wireless modems are becoming more reliable.
Advanced signal-processing techniques and new network
architectures that were merely an academic curiosity a few years
ago are now practical to implement in wireless systems. In turn,
these advances are finding their way into new standards and new products.
Wireless More Reliable Than Wired?
A friend of mine claims that wireless communications are sometimes more reliable than wired
communications. He's crazy, right? 
Signed, Knott Krazie
Dear Knott: 
I wouldn't commit your friend to the loony bin just yet: wireless systems can be more reliable than
wired systems in specific applications. Here are just a few examples:
"Chainsaw-resistant" connections. Before some evildoer can cut a connection, they have to know
it is there. Unlike wired connections, wireless connections are invisible, which offers significant
protection against malicious attacks. An intruder could launch an attack with a radio-frequency
jammer, but advanced radios, such as spread spectrum (SS) and ultra-wideband (UWB), coupled
with advanced network designs—such as redundant mesh architectures—work together to create
communications networks that are extremely difficult to disrupt, whether deliberately or by accident.
Fire-and backhoe-proof connections. Wired connections can be broken by fires and backhoes;
wireless connections can't. Consider an office building with smoke detectors that use "home-run"
wiring to a central control panel. In addition to being expensive, home-run wiring is prone to massive
failure because a fire can burn through all the connections in one place. By contrast, wireless mesh
networking can provide redundant, fail-safe monitoring of all of the smoke detectors in a building.
Avoiding slip rings. Any time you need to make a measurement on a rotating object, you should
consider a wireless link. Short-range, low-cost radio transmitters are being put into commercial use
for measuring tire pressure from inside the tires of light vehicles manufactured in the U.S. For
example, in addition to satisfying the mandates of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
for tire pressure monitoring systems, this approach avoids the cost and complexity of connections
made using mechanical slip rings.

Wired communications is a broad term that is used to describe any type of communication process
that relies on the direct use of cables and wiring to transmit audio and visual data. A classic example
of wired communications is the traditional home telephone that is connected to the local telephone
switch via wires that are ran from the home to the switch. While wireless communication solutions
have become more common in recent years, the use of wired services remains common and is not
likely to disappear in the near future.

Local telephone networks often form the basis for wired communications that are used by both
residential and business customers in the area. Most of the networks today rely on the use of fiber-
optic communication technology as a means of providing clear signaling for both inbound and
outbound transmissions. Fiber optics are capable of accommodating far more signals than the
older copper wiring used in generations past, while still maintaining the integrity of the signal over
longer distances.

Internet access from desktop computer systems is also a common example of modern wired

communications. In fact, telephone service providers often utilize the same wiring to provide both
high speed Internet solutions and basic telephone services to residential and business customers.
Depending on the nature of the connection, this may require using wiring and cables that have a
higher capacity than standard wires. Some system designs need nothing more than the addition of
filtering devices that effectively split the signal to allow a single outlet to provide connectivity to
both the audio phone network and the Internet.

Cable television is also classified as wired communications. Cable is run into each home and
connected to one or more television sets. The same cable is connected with the cable network,
making it possible to activate the connection and allow both audio and visual transmissions to be
received. This is in contrast to traditional broadcasts that rely on over the air transmissions that must
be picked up by a receiver and converted into sound and images that the reception device can
process.