Did you ever wish you could pull up a patient's chart on your PDA while walking to the exam room? How about checking your email from the parking lot? With wireless networking this is all very possible, and what's more, it's inexpensive and usually takes just an hour to set up for a small practice.

Wireless networking technology, or Wi-Fi, has been around for 10 years. It was initially a pretty flakey affair, but new Wi-Fi gear is fast and reliable enough for all but the most demanding clinical uses.

The latest generation of Wi-Fi — called 802.11n or wireless n — is a big leap forward in terms of speed and reception. That's great news for doctors because typical medical practices, with their many walls and lead shielding for x-rays, tended to have interference problems when using earlier incarnations of Wi-Fi. And wireless networks don't force you to throw out any old gear — they're compatible with any garden-variety wired network (usually called a LAN or local area network).

Also the different types of Wi-Fi are compatible with one another — for instance, if you have a speedy network created with wireless n gear and a laptop with an older wireless b card, the old laptop will work just fine (although it won't be able to take advantage of the improved speed).

GETTING STARTED
If you decide to take the wireless plunge, you're probably best off choosing wireless n products. Some companies claim to offer up to 300 Mbps performance, which is better than some wired networks. In reality you'll likely see, at best, one-third of that speed — but that's still more than double the top clip of earlier wireless technologies. To get up and running you'll need a router ($150-$200) and a wireless card ($75-$100) — also called an adapter or receiver — for each computer that needs to connect wirelessly.

HOME ON THE RANGE
Wireless n is a great technology, but don't get fooled into thinking it's anywhere near as powerful as the salesmen say. For instance, most n routers boast they offer nearly 140 square metres of wireless coverage for your network. Now you might get that if you practise in the open air on the Saskatchewan prairie. But in a typical office, you'd be lucky to get reliable coverage over half of that range.

It's best to place the router near the centre of your office to maximize its range. Wander around your practice with your laptop or PDA to test how far away you can connect. If you still have dead spots, you can buy a wireless n access point (about $200) which works much like a radio station's repeaters.

LOCK UP
The expanded range of today's wireless networking gear is a double-edged sword for doctors. While improved reliability and fewer dead spots within an office is a boon to productivity, it also means hackers with hot-rod antennas could potentially sniff out your network — and its sensitive data — from kilometres away.

Thankfully, even cheap consumer Wi-Fi gear has powerful security features. But you have to use them. Many people just leave their router's security features turned off, which is the cyber-equivalent of leaving your front door wide open and posting a "trespassers welcome" sign in the window. This is because nearly all wireless routers ship with a feature called "SSID broadcasting" turned on. SSID broadcasting will announce your network's existence to any wireless-equipped computer that comes within range — practically goading hackers to do their thing.

This is very simple to turn off. Most routers have a numerical address printed on the bottom of the unit (it's called an IP address), just type this number into a web browser along with the user name and password and you can change your wireless network settings. It goes without saying that you should change the default username and password (for most units it's "admin" and "password" — incredibly easy for intruders to guess) for modifying router settings.

Also, most wireless routers give your network a very generic name (usually the manufacturer's name) that's easy for intruders to guess even if it's not announced. Changing your network's name to something a bit offbeat will help keep it under the radar.

Any medical practice that cares about patient privacy should also use the encryption features built into nearly all Wi-Fi gear. This will scramble the data in transit, making it difficult for hackers to make sense of it. If your router offers you a choice between "WEP" or "WPA" — choose the latter, it's much tougher to crack.