Q: Using nBanc, how long does a transaction take?
A: In case of a fresh connection through dialup, there is a delay of thirty seconds for the connection to be established and authorized. After this period, there is a real time flow of data and time taken is in direct proportion to the amount of data being transferred.

Q: How secure is the data being exchanged?
A: All the data flowing through nBanc is encrypted through its passage. nBanc uses SSL to prevent unauthorized access

Q: Using nBanc, can we provide internet access to the employees?
A: Yes, nBanc can also double as a proxy server, providing internet sharing to all the nodes in the LAN

Q: If we connect to the internet, how is the security of our servers ensured?
A: nBanc can be configured in such a way that a certain set of machines are accessible only to the intranet users and no data from the internet is allowed to pass to these machines. This ensures the sanctity of the servers.

On Wireless

Q How is "wireless" Internet access different?
A Instead of using a telephone wire or cable to link the end-user's computer or other communications device to the ISP, wireless Interne access providers use the electromagnetic spectrum, or radio waves, to make that connection. Presently, several different wireless services and technologies are being used to provide wireless Internet access, and many more are being rolled out or tested.In addition, two different types of wireless Internet access have evolved -- fixed wireless and mobile data.

Q What do you mean by fixed wireless Internet access?
A By fixed wireless Internet access, we generally are referring to office environments where the end-user utilizes a desktop or laptop computer that accesses its ISP through a wireless connection. In most cases, however, this does not mean that the computer will no longer have a wire hooked up to a jack in the wall. Most fixed wireless Internet access providers will install a small antenna at the customer's business or home, and that antenna is then hard-wired to all Internet user computers in that home or office. (However, Metricom's Ricochet service discussed below is more of a hybrid service. It uses a wireless modem, which obviously allows for mobility within Metricom's service areas.) The following fixed wireless Internet access providers use various types of new wireless technologies: 1) Metricom offers its Ricochet "unlicensed" wireless Internet access via a network of low power micro cells, which operate in the 902-928 MHz band in three markets and in several airports and universities. 2) Companies such as MCI, Sprint and BellSouth have purchased most of the major "wireless cable" operators, and are now offering Internet access over FCC licensed broadband wireless MDS (multipoint distribution service) and/or ITFS (instructional television fixed service) frequencies in the 2.5-2.7 GHz band. 3) CLECs (competitive local exchange carriers) such as Teligent, Next Link and Win Star also offer Internet access through high frequency microwave links in the 24, 28, 31 and 38 GHz bands.

Q What do you mean by mobile (data) wireless Internet access?
A A Mobile wireless Internet access refers to Internet access over devices with no wires attached, specifically cell phones, pagers, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and other hand-held devices. The demand for mobile Internet access, and the ability to send and receive data over these devices is exploding. As a practical matter, there are a number of issues that arise from accessing the Internet over a mobile handset, such as small screens, lower resolution, a limited keypad for data entry and far lower processing power and memory than desktop or laptop computers. Consequently, mobile Internet access looks and functions differently from fixed wireless access, in that mobile Internet access providers are forced to simplify the presentation and limit the features offered to the user to those that are most valued. In order to expedite the deployment of mobile wireless Internet access, several major players in the wireless and Internet industries created the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) Forum, an industry association that is developing the evolving WAP standard. The WAP is an open standard that can be adopted by any company that wants to develop different or competing wireless Internet access products. The WAP is an Internet Protocol (IP) platform will support all major wireless standards, such as GSM, CDMA and TDMA.

Q What are some of the pros and cons of wireless Internet access?
A The pros and cons of wireless Internet access essentially are the same as among wireless services in general. The primary advantages of wireless Internet access service are: 1) the lower infrastructure costs associated with building out a wireless system, which translate to lower cost for the end-user; 2) generally, the ability to provide high speed internet access to areas where digital subscriber line (DSL) and/or high speed cable access is not available; and 3) for mobile workers, the ability to be in touch without having to be plugged into a telephone line. The primary disadvantages are: 1) at present, slower data speeds than DSL lines or high speed cable access; 2) security concerns; 3) "glitches" with service reliability, as compared with telephone line delivered service, and 4) depending on the type of wireless Internet access desired, coverage can be very limited - usually to just major metropolitan areas.

Q Who are the most likely initial wireless Internet access customers?
A Like many service providers in the burgeoning high speed data market, most fixed wireless Internet access providers are first focusing on providing service to the small to mid-sized business market, and eventually plan to offer service to residential customers. Due to the initial cost, mobile data applications presently are primarily geared to business customers.

All about WAP

Q What is WAP?
A WAP stands for Wireless Application Protocol, and basically allows any user of a mobile phone, handheld PC or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) to access the Internet. This de-facto global standard uses an optimized protocol developed keeping in mind the needs of a mobile user and the limitations in terms of screen size and access speed of a mobile device. WAP enables faster, secure, reliable and efficient delivery of relevant information to mobile users.

Q What is a WAP Gateway?
A WAP Gateway basically translates requests from a WAP-enabled device to the Internet, retrieves the necessary information from the Web and sends it back to the WAP-enabled device. The information sent back is compacted by the Gateway to save bandwidth thus enabling faster mobile browsing.

Q In what way is WAP different from Internet?
A Internet standards such as HTML, HTTP, TLS and TCP are quite ineffective when it comes to mobile networks. A standard Web page designed using HTML cannot be displayed effectively on the small-size screens of pocket-sized mobile phones. Also, the HTTP and TCP protocols are not optimized for the specific demands of wireless networks such as intermittent coverage, long latencies and limited bandwidth. Therefore, wireless services using these protocols are often slow, costly and very difficult to use. WAP, on the other hand, uses binary transmission for greater compression of data, and is thereby optimized for long latency, low power consumption and low to medium bandwidth. The Wireless Markup Language (WML) language used for WAP content, is simpler and more strictly defined than HTML. WML makes optimum use of small screens and allows easy navigation with one hand without a full keyboard, and has built-in scalability from two-line text displays to full graphic screens on smart phones and communicators. WML, in fact, has its own bitmap format too for the mobile users - the Wireless Bitmap Format (WBMP). A user with a WAP-enabled device normally dials-in to a WAP Gateway service provider. The Gateway, on authentication of the user, thereafter handles requests from the WAP-enabled device, translates these requests to Web related protocols, retrieves the necessary information and sends it back to the mobile user. The cellular phone or any other mobile device thus acts as a simple web browser, but optimizes the markup language, scripting language, and the transmission protocols for wireless use. The optimized protocols are translated to Web-standard Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) by the WAP Gateway.

WAP Devices

Q What is a WAP-enabled device?
A All mobile phone, handheld PCs, pagers, smart phones, two-way radios, and PDAs, with built-in processors, that enables access to and transfer of information using Wireless Application Protocol, are WAP-enabled devices.

Q Can I use my normal mobile phone to connect to the Wabot.com Gateway?
A Wabot.com is a gateway for WAP-enabled devices. Therefore, at present, only such compliant devices can connect to Wabot.com.

Q Can I use my mobile only to connect to the Internet?
A WAP has many other applications as well. For instance, you can also use WAP to set up a corporate WAP gateway for Intranet purposes, and using your mobile device connect to the Intranet while on the move.

Q Is there a difference in viewing with different WAP-enabled devices?
A Each WAP-enabled device has a different screen size. While most WAP pages are optimized for 48 x 96 pixels, in certain devices, this may lead to having to scroll to access all the services. (See section WAP Devices you can buy).

Internet Browsing

Q How will WAP benefit me?
A The potentials of WAP are unlimited. At the simplest level, you can gain access to email and browse the WAP compliant web sites on the Internet using your mobile device. With content providers also showing interest in WAP technology, you will have privilege to regular updated information like stock ticker, ticketing and reservation, weather and traffic details.

Q Can I browse the Internet using a WAP-enabled device?
A Web pages on the Internet are developed using HTML, which is not compliant with Wireless Application Protocol. WAP uses a separate markup language called Wireless Markup Language (WML). Therefore, all pages on the Net, which are created using WML can be viewed using your WAP-enabled device. A useful search engine to search for WAP-enabled pages is www.wapaw.com.

Q Can I view images on my cellular phone?
A The WAP specifications allow for the use of a graphics format called WBMP (Wireless Bitmap Format). It is a 1 bit (either black or white) version of the BMP format. However, there are certain limitations with the WBMP format, mainly that the image size cannot exceed 150 x 150 pixels, but then most cellular phone screens are smaller than this.

Q How fast can I surf using my WAP-enabled device?
A The Wireless Application Protocol allows for a speed of 9,600 bps. That means, you can easily download your text-based e-mails within seconds. Sites using Wireless Markup Language are optimized for wireless application protocol and therefore can deliver content faster to the WAP-device.

Security and Privacy

Q How secure is the information I transmit using Wabot.com?
A All information transmitted through your WAP-enabled device is encrypted during its passage. Like HTML, the Wireless Markup Language also uses security features like WTLS, thereby preventing unauthorized access.

Q Can anyone track my Net usage and phone number when I connect to Wabot.com?
A Data transmitted through the Wabot.com Gateway is encrypted. While handling requests from the mobile device, Wabot.com ensures that all header information, which may contain information regarding the user, is removed. This ensures that no one can track your mobile phone number or Net usage.

Q Can I receive junk/spam messages on my mobile while browsing Wabot.com?
A Wabot.com acts as a Gateway translating information from the Internet to your cellular device.