For
two reasons, 802.11g equipment is recommended over 802.11b for small
businesses.
One,
802.11g equipment is significantly faster than 802.11b equipment.
Two, the additional speed achieved with 802.11g equipment comes at a relatively
low marginal cost. Thus, the speed-to-cost ratio of 802.11g
equipment is relatively more attractive. In other words, small businesses
get more speed and better performance for the money.
Although
an argument can be made for 802.11a equipment because of the number of users
that can be supported on a single access point, 802.11a networks have not
had widespread acceptance relative to the other two standards. Therefore,
802.11a is not recommended for small firms.
Future Article Installments
In future installments, we will discuss why implementing WLANs is more
efficient for small firms than wired networks. In addition, we will also
outline security vulnerabilities related to WLANs and how the industry
has addressed these vulnerabilities.
(c) Copyright 2004, Paramjit S. Kahai, Assistant Professor
at the University of Akron, and Simran K. Kahai, Assistant Professor at John
Carroll University. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.
The use of wireless local area networks (WLANs) in organizations
has increased steadily over the past three years. At the same
time, prices of WLAN equipment have declined steadily.
These lower prices now make it economically feasible for even
the smallest of firms to deploy WLANs. Yet, small businesses
need to be aware of a variety of issues when they contemplate
implementing a wireless network.
Before we analyze these issues, a discussion of the basics of wireless technology
is in order.
What is a WLAN?
What exactly do we mean by Wireless Local Area Networks?
There are two parts to this term: wireless
and local area network (LAN).
Wireless refers to communications
in which signals travel through air,
rather than some form of cable, over
all or part of the entire communi-
cations path.
A LAN is a computer network that provides network
connectivity in a
geographically restricted area such as an office,
a university campus, or
an office complex.
A WLAN, therefore, is a LAN that permits
wireless communications among devices that constitute the LAN.
Implementing a
Wireless Network
Implementing a wireless LAN involves setting
up an infrastructure consisting of multiple access
points as shown in Figure 1 below.
Computers equipped with wireless network interface
cards (NICs) then communicate with the nearest
access point.
On one side, an access point controls communications
among computers and other devices that are connected to
it. On the other, it may be connected by a cable to a
router or similar device that provides connectivity to
the Internet.
For uninterrupted communications, a distance of no more
than 150 feet between a computer and an access point is
considered practical.
Figure 1. Wireless LAN
Architecture
Source: Karygiannis & Owens
(2002).
Choices for
Wireless Networks
Currently available WLAN equipment follows one of three
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
standards, collectively referred to as 802.11 standards.
These standards include:
802.11a
802.11b (also known as Wi-Fi for Wireless
Fidelity)
802.11g
Although 802.11b
WLANs (Wi-Fi) have been implemented the most until now,
WLANs based on 802.11g equipment are steadily gaining ground.
Because both operate in the same frequency range, equipment
based on the 802.11g standard is backward compatible with
802.11b equipment. Thus, companies that have already invested
in 802.11b equipment will have an easier migration path
to 802.11g.
See Table 1 below for a comparison chart of Wireless Standards.
Characteristics
\ Standards
802.11a
802.11b
802.11g
Speed
(communication with access point)
Up
to 54 Mbps
Up
to 11 Mbps
Up
to 54 Mbps
Indoor
Range (in feet)
25
-75
100-150
100-150
Number
of Users Per Access Point
64
32
32
Number
of Access Points That Can Be
In
Close Proximity Of Each Other
