© Mark Ollig
After working in the telephone industry for decades, I believed physical communication mediums like wires were the most reliable.
I was skeptical about wireless technology; however, recent events have changed my beliefs.
After installing and thoroughly testing a home router for wireless internet, I cut the cord with my internet service provider.
My Verizon Internet Gateway LTE 5G home router links to 4G LTE and 5G networks, automatically switching to 4G LTE when the 5G signal is weak or unavailable, ensuring consistent internet access.
The router uses 5G NR (New Radio) non-standalone technology, the LTE network for control functions like signaling and mobility management, and the 5G NR network for high-speed data transfer (downloads and uploads).
I programmed the device’s Wi-Fi 6 router to extend the internet signal on my home devices: Google Nest Hub, iPad Pro, and Galaxy S21Ultra 5G smartphone.
Verizon’s Internet Gateway LTE 5G is only available in some areas; your local service providers may have similar offerings.
I also replaced my USB-C charging cable with a Samsung wireless charging phone stand that uses the Qi (pronounced “chee”) wireless standard developed by the Wireless Power Consortium.
Qi is a Chinese word meaning “vital energy.”
The charging stand uses dual coils for wireless power transfer, with an LED indicator and built-in fan. Qi allows for encrypted data exchange during pairing and charging.
A new wireless charging standard, Qi2, will be released this year and compatible with smartphones, tablets, laptops, wearables, and IoT smart devices.
The first public wireless power transfer using an AC (alternating current) generator and wire coil to light incandescent lamps was achieved by Nikola Tesla during a lecture in 1891 at Columbia College, NY.
Nikola Tesla, born in Croatia in 1856, was a visionary inventor with over 300 worldwide patents, mostly related to AC power systems.
In 1891, Tesla invented the Tesla coil, which produces high-voltage, low-current, high-frequency AC electricity and can be used for wireless energy transfer.
In 1888, George Westinghouse purchased Tesla’s patents for the AC induction motor, AC transformer, and Polyphase AC power distribution system to establish an AC electrical grid system.
The 1893 World’s Fair, which took place in Chicago, was an exhibition that presented the latest advancements in science, art, and culture.
Westinghouse and Tesla provided the AC electricity that powered some 92,000 light bulbs across its expansive 700-acre site.
The fair took place from May to October of that year and showcased around 60,000 exhibits, including those of Nikola Tesla.
Tesla amazed audiences with spectacular experiments such as creating artificial lightning, sending sparks through his body, and lighting a gas-filled tube with his hand.
In 1898, at the Electrical Exposition in New York City’s Madison Square Garden, Tesla demonstrated the world’s first radio-controlled vessel, a toy boat, using a small radio signal apparatus.
In 1899, Nikola Tesla established a well-equipped laboratory in Colorado Springs to investigate the potential of wireless transmission.
He constructed a powerful “magnifying transmitter,” essentially a giant Tesla coil, and explored wireless and communication signals, primarily focusing on wireless power transmission.
On May 18, 1899, the Colorado Gazette newspaper reported Tesla wanted to build a wireless communication system to send messages and images across the globe.
He proposed his idea of a wireless transmission around the globe to a financier and one of the world’s foremost financial figures, Wall Street banker John Pierpont Morgan.
In 1901, Morgan financed Tesla with $150,000 ($5.5 million today) to construct a transatlantic wireless communication system.
A 94 by 94-ft red brick structure in Shoreham, Long Island, housed Tesla’s laboratory and electrical equipment, where he oversaw the construction of the 187-foot-tall Wardenclyffe Tower.
The tower had a copper hemispherical dome at the top, which housed a large Tesla coil linked to a 55-ton iron core connected via a six-gauge AWG insulated wire to a primary coil inside his laboratory.
The primary coil was coupled to a secondary coil inside the tower, creating a resonant transformer circuit that could transmit wireless power over long distances.
Tesla wanted to use the Wardenclyffe Tower to achieve wireless energy transmission using his “Tesla coil” transformers.
He requested additional funding from Morgan in 1902 for wireless power transmission, but Morgan was only
interested in Tesla’s wireless telegraphy work.
On Dec. 12, 1901, Guglielmo Marconi transmitted the letter “S” in Morse code from Poldhu, Cornwall, UK, to Signal Hill, Newfoundland, marking the first radio signal to cross the Atlantic Ocean, a distance of 3,000 miles.
Tesla’s slow development of wireless telephony using the Wardenclyffe Tower had exceeded Morgan’s resources and patience, causing him to withdraw his support.
Tesla failed to secure new investors, faced competition, and experienced technical difficulties, ultimately abandoning his wireless project in 1906.
Morgan died in 1913 while living in Italy.
In 1917, Tesla’s unfinished Wardenclyffe Tower was demolished and sold for scrap to pay off his debts.
Nikola Tesla died Jan. 7, 1943, at 86, in Manhattan, NY.
Although not fully realized in his lifetime, Nikola Tesla’s vision of wireless communication and power transmission profoundly inspired the development of the wireless technologies we use today.
The non-profit organization Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe owns Tesla’s laboratory site in Shoreham, Long Island, NY, which is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Their website is teslasciencecenter.org.
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| The 187-foot-tall Wardenclyffe Tower behind Nikola Tesla's brick laboratory/plant |
