Why Go Wireless?

Wireless networking has its place in the home, small office, and enterprise environments. You can use an inexpensive access point to create a network of just a few computers, or you can use multiple access points (APs) throughout a large company to further enable mobility of your networked clients .

There are many good reasons to use wireless networking. First, it's a quick way to set up a peer-to-peer network that is needed for only a short period of time, such as in a home office where you only have two or three computers that need a link and you don't want to be running network cables through your walls. For the home environment, wireless networking may be the perfect choice because it not only eliminates the necessity of pulling cables, but also gives you flexibility in where you locate your equipment. For example, although you might have set aside a portion of your house to use for your home office, it's nice to be able to take the laptop into the living room (or out on the deck in the back yard) and work while you're watching that favorite TV show. Wireless networking makes this simple.

Another use for wireless technology is the trade show environment. If you need to network several computers and possibly a printer or two, an ad hoc network using a wireless access point can be a quick way to get your booth up and running in a hurry. This also can be used at a client site if you're in the consulting business and don't want to connect your computers to your client's network. Indeed, it can be an easy way to get your computers into the client's office because they'll have no up-front work to do to provide you with networking services.

Finally, you can use a wireless network to extend the reach of your existing LAN. Access points can be connected to a wired LAN to provide an ingress point for wireless clients. However, just because it's possible doesn't mean it's necessary. Some places in a corporate network that you might find wireless network APs a good idea include

• Conference rooms ” Users often bring laptop computers to meetings to take notes. Using wireless networking in a conference room can allow that laptop to locate information that exists elsewhere on the LAN that might be useful during the meeting. No more "I'll get back with you on that" excuses.

• Temporary workgroups ” An access point can be useful when you need to bring in temporary workers, using space that's otherwise not wired for network access. Because many manufacturing plants have seasonal peaks and slumps, this might be an ideal way to quickly set up new clients on a network without the expense of having to go through the process of providing switches and cable runs to all parts of your building. Instead, a single cable run can be used for an AP that can serve a variable number of clients on an as-needed basis.

• Mobile users ” For users who mainly work with a laptop and are usually on the road ”such as salespeople ”a wireless solution might be a good idea. When the user returns to the office for a short time, a docking station can serve to connect the laptop to the wired network. However, a docking station basically means reserving a desk as well and overhead can be expensive in today's competitive market. Instead, a single office with a few desks and an access point can serve a large number of transient workers.

• Factory floor ” Laptops are not the only computers that can be used in a wireless network. Many PDAs and other small handheld devices are available that can use Wi-Fi network cards. On a factory floor, where mobility is important, it's easier to use a small portable device than it is to set up a series of PCs throughout the plant. Because many manufacturing plants need to reconfigure the factory floor on a periodic basis to retool for new products, wireless networking can again prove to be a cost saver.

In Chapter 20, you can find information on how to extend a network with wireless technology.

Another place that wireless networking can serve a useful purpose is for outdoor activities. I've worked at many places that have outdoor locations that employees can use at lunchtime. These areas also can be comfortable places to hold meetings. Sometimes just getting out of the office can boost employee morale and taking the network outside can, as noted previously, make meetings more productive. There are many other uses for wireless networks, and new ideas are being created every day.

Note

In addition to the deployment of wireless networking in the SOHO and enterprise corporate environment, you can expect to find wireless networking proliferating into public spaces. At this time, many hotels already offer wireless networking for clients, along with the plug-in dial-up access that has become the norm. Major hardware vendors have announced plans to wire public spaces (airports, malls, and so on) with wireless access points during the next few years . Perhaps some day soon you'll be able to use your laptop computer (or whatever smaller network devices come along) wherever you go, using a single nationwide provider.