Far from what tradition might indicate, the wireless Internet isn't turning out to be one of those tech breakthroughs that arrives accompanied by a Microsoft-size marketing campaign and eight-foot-high displays in consumer-electronics stores. Instead, it's a grassroots trend that has moved from research labs, to techie circles, to hobbyists -- and that now, after five years -- is reaching the general public. Anyone who didn't know broadband (meaning, fast) wireless Internet access is here -- and that it works -- soon will.

The broadband wireless Web is being built around a technology known as 802.11b. 802.11b has become the most popular networking standard that's used to create wireless local area networks (LANs) in homes and offices at speeds up to 22 megabits per second, far faster than the peak 144-kilobit-per-second rate so-called 3G (for third-generation) mobile-phone networks that Sprint PCS, for one, plans to deliver.

For now, wireless primarily provides broadband Internet access to specially outfitted PCs and laptops within a few hundred feet of an access point, or transmitter. These create what in the wireless vernacular are known as "hot spots" in homes, airport lounges, or libraries. Businesses are also adding wireless networks to allow for easy net access from conference rooms and temporary work stations -- and also to avoid the hefty costs in both time and money of wiring an office.

SPAWNING STARTUPS
Wireless's most admirable attributes are that it's fast (to both set up and use) and cheap (under $200 for a small installation). It operates on unlicensed airwave spectrum, so no extra monthly costs on top of the charge for a broadband connection are incurred. It's also easy to install. Most high-end laptops now come wireless ready, equipped with a special plug-in circuit card. Hotels and coffee shops are offering customers wireless access as a convenience. Starbucks has equipped 530 stores and plans eventually to enable more than 70% of its 3,200 company-owned North American outlets.

Some cities even are choosing wireless over cellular networks for uses such as distributing mug shots to police cruisers. Techie towns like Seattle and San Francisco already have hundreds of access points available to the public. And the technology is spawning startups. A new company, Boingo Wireless, now links 500 industrial strength wireless LANs in hotels and airports so subscribers to its $25-and-up monthly service can tap into these networks on the road.

The lack of marketing muscle behind wireless can make the industry seem small-time and disorganized. And some concerns include security and interference (baby monitors and garage-door openers, among other devices, share the same spectrum, which can slow network speeds). But those problems are surmountable, and an increasing number of companies -- large and small -- are buying wireless LANs, says Ken Dulaney, who covers mobile computing for research firm Gartner.

Wireless is a no-risk financial decision especially for small businesses or companies in hard-to-wire locations, because of its low cost. Consulting firm Adventis, which spent $30,000 to wire its Boston office last year, says a similar wireless installation today would cost only $500. Gartner's Dulaney estimates that 20% of large companies currently have wireless LANs as an adjunct to their wired networks. By 2003, when the technology will provide even faster Net access -- plus tighter security and less interference -- he thinks 50% of the largest 1,000 public companies will have it.

BOTTOM-UP MOVEMENT
Indeed, research firm Cahners In-Stat expects sales of wireless network cards and wireless base stations to grow from $1.9 billion in 2001 to $5.2 billion in 2005, despite big declines in the prices of such equipment.

This grassroots flavor -- similar to the bottom-up movement from which the Web itself sprang in the mid-1990s -- is what makes wireless so powerful, say tech analysts and consultants. "This came out of left field," says Andrew Cole, the global wireless practice leader at Adventis. "Now all the major carriers are sitting up and taking notice."

They had better. This is a vastly different wireless Web than the one the major network operators envisioned. The six big wireless carriers in the U.S. have spent billions on buying spectrum licenses and building 3G networks that can carry data at high speeds. Only 3G will give you a connection to the Internet that's always open from anywhere -- while driving down a lonely back road, for example.

WHO NEEDS ALWAYS-ON?
Because wireless offers faster, cheaper net connections and is here now, though, it could eat away at what already looks like a smaller-than-anticipated market for 3G data services. "It will be hard for 3G to compete on a price point that makes sense," says Tom Taulli, author of Tapping Into Wireless. Adds Eric Kintz, associate partner at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants in San Francisco: "There aren't that many people who need a truly always-on connection" -- 3G's primary selling point. "For most mobile professionals, having wireless access at airports, hotels, and the office is sufficient."

To get back in the game, many wireless players are planning to incorporate wireless into their networks so they can promise customers both coverage and speed -- even if not both at the same time. The idea is that you would use a wireless LAN when one is available and migrate to the slower wide-area networks (WANs) upon which 3G is based when that's the only network available.

MIRA MOBILITY
Meantime, tech Goliaths Intel and Microsoft are quietly betting that wireless home networking will stimulate demand for all kinds of new mobile computing and consumer-electronics products. "The dream of having a digital hub from which you can wirelessly transmit music or videos-on-demand is made possible through wireless," says Roland Berger's Kintz.

Indeed, Microsoft's Windows XP and Windows CE operating systems for PCs and handhelds, respectively, already come configured for wireless networking. Microsoft has already introduce its Mira mobile devices including a detachable wireless flat-panel monitor. Gates & Co. promises that users will be able to remove the display from a PC and carry it around a home or office while maintaining an Internet connection and the full functionality of the computer via an on-screen keyboard.

"People spend up to 10 hours a week browsing the Web and reading e-mail," says Aubrey Edwards, marketing director for Microsoft's embedded and appliance platforms group. "It doesn't need to be done in the confines of a small home office."

Meantime, Intel has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on research and development related to wireless, says Stephen Salzman, senior director of wireless LAN marketing at the No. 1 chipmaker. He believes that wireless is the technology that will make the "extended PC" a reality and "really give people a reason to go mobile." For instance, 802.11b could link video cameras wirelessly to your PC so you can monitor your home from work.

As the technology improves, PCs will be able to stream movies from the Net to your living room TV, says Salzman. "The range of applications only grows," he says. "Every week we see some creative application we haven't seen before."

- Written by Amey Stone in New York