Growth of the Internet and online services, combined with the widespread reliance on networking in business, provides strong evidence of the benefits of shared data and resources. With wireless LAN’s, users can access information without looking for a place to plug in. Network managers can set up networks without installing or moving wires. Wireless LAN’s offer the following productivity, convenience and cost advantages over wired networks:

Mobility: Wireless LAN systems can provide users with access to real-time information anywhere in their organization, thus enhancing productivity and service opportunities not possible with wired networks.

Installation Speed and Simplicity: Installing a wireless LAN system can be fast and easy, and can eliminate the need to pull cables through walls and ceilings.

Reduced Cost: Although the initial investment required for wireless LAN hardware can be higher than the cost of wired LAN hardware, overall installation expenses and life-cycle costs are lower, especially in changing environments requiring frequent moves.

Scalability: Configurations are easily changed, and range from peer-to-peer networks suitable for a small number of users, to full infrastructure networks of thousands of users, that enable roaming over a broad area.

The benefits of wireless LAN’s are numerous, and it is easy to see why many industries would opt to augment or switch from their wired networks. Doctors and nurses in hospitals can have patient information delivered instantly through hand-held or notebook computers with wireless LAN capability. Network managers in changing environments minimize the cost of providing extensions to networks at new locations. Corporate training centers and university students use wireless connectivity to access information and enhance learning. Wireless LAN’s are a cost–effective networked infrastructure solution when installing networked computers in older buildings. Warehouse workers can use wireless LAN’s to exchange information with central databases. Network managers implement wireless LAN’s to provide backup for mission-critical applications running on wired networks.

Just how is all this technically possible? Electromagnetic airwaves (radio or infrared) are used to communicate information from one point to another without relying on a

physical connection. A transmitter/receiver (transceiver) device, called an access point, connects to the wired network from a fixed location using standard cabling. The access point receives and transmits data between the wireless LAN and the wired network infrastructure. A single access point can support a group of users within a range of from less than one hundred to several hundred feet. Wireless LAN adapters, implemented as cards in laptops or desktops, or integrated within hand-held computers, enable users to access the wireless LAN. These adapters provide an interface between the network operating system (NOS) and the airwaves via an antenna.

Wireless LAN’s can be simple or complex. At its most basic, two PCs equipped with wireless adapter cards can set up an independent network whenever they are within range of one another. This is called a peer-to-peer network, where each computer has equivalent capabilities and responsibilities. In this case, each PC has access only to the resources of the other PC, and not to a central server (a computer or device on a network that manager network resources). If the users need to access a central server, installing an access point extends the range of communications within the network. Since the access point is connected to the wired network, each client has access to server resources as well.

Access points have a range of approximately 500 feet indoors to 1000 feet outdoors. In a very large area such as a warehouse or a college campus, it is necessary to install more than one access point. Access points are positioned so that coverage cells overlap within the coverage area. As a result, users can move throughout the area without ever losing network contact. This ability to move seamlessly among a group of access points is called roaming. For distances greater than 1000 feet, another option is to equip a directional antennal on each physical location targeting the other location. The antenna on one location is connected to the wired network via an access point. The antenna on the other location is similarly connected to an access point in that location, which enables wireless LAN connectivity between the two facilities.

Flexibility and mobility make wireless LAN’s an attractive alternative to wired networks. Without the physical constraints of wires, wireless LAN’s offer distributed data connectivity and scalability at a more efficient cost. These proven benefits should appeal to any organization that needs to keep its people connected, where time is of the utmost importance.