At Annecto we supply, design, install and support wireless communications for Home & Businesses. This includes point to point links offering high bandwidth for line of sight and non line of sight locations; wireless routers capable of supporting super 3G and GPRS systems; and exciting new technologies that use ordinary power lines to deliver internet access to multiple users.
With their rugged and robust design, wireless point to point communications are perfect for campus based organisations and present exceptional levels of reliability even in locations of high level radio congestion.
Wireless technologies can make setting up a computer network relatively simple especially if you have computers all over your building. It can be much easier to move computers around, and laptops especially can become truly portable – no need to plug in that network cable… This article explains the basics of wireless Local Area Networks and highlights other issues to consider before choosing to go wireless.
What is a wireless network?
Wireless network technology allows computers to communicate with each other via radio signals rather than cables. In its broadest meaning, wireless networking includes mobile and satellite phones, pagers, two-way radios, wireless Local Area Networks and modems. This article focuses on wireless networks i.e. computer networks that are generally confined to the same building or site. A wireless LAN is often part of an existing wired network but can also be standalone systems.
Why have a wireless LAN?
The benefits of a wireless LAN may be clear for laptop users however there are a number of reasons why a wireless LAN is useful in general:
* They are relatively easy and quick to set up compared to wired networks
* Many buildings have unsuitable layouts or walls that cannot be wired for various reasons making it impractical to connect a network via cables.
* Cabling can be an expensive task. Wireless networks do not include this expense.
* It is easy to add new computers to a wireless network.
* It is easy to move a wireless network to a new location.
* If a small number of computers are separated from a main network, a wireless link can be more cost effective than network cabling although it may also be perfectly feasible to use network cabling.
* A temporary wireless LAN can easily be created for exhibitions, or community projects, without the hazard and inconvenience of trailing cables
A wireless LAN is not suitable for every environment however, and there are important issues to take into account before deciding on this option.