Anyone who uses wireless anything -- a Wi-Fi network at a hotel, cellular phones, BlackBerries -- knows some of the problems with the technology: Wireless networks transmit data much more slowly than most wired ones, they don't always work, and they have a maddening tendency to disconnect without warning. There's a constant worry of being out of range or having a bad connection.

Still, each new generation of wireless gadgets gets better, generally cheaper, and seemingly more popular. Now an emerging wireless networking technology called MIMO promises real breakthroughs in speed, accessibility, and reliability. That has implications for today's corporate networks, home Wi-Fi networks, and cellular networks.