Network Management

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The first WLANs were primarily small networks, making it relatively easy to manually operate the network and manage radio coverage by trial and error. End-users would detect failures and report them, there were few eavesdroppers, and hackers were still a plague of the future. This changed as the number and size of WLAN installations grew. Wireless network management tools are invaluable for anyone deploying a WLAN supporting more than 20 stations. Network managers of larger networks are reluctant to deploy a WLAN unless they can provide the same level of security, manageability, and scalability as their wired LANs.

While tools are incorporated into Ethernet networks to support the operation phase of a network, these tools are of minimal use for development and deployment of a WLAN; furthermore, many do not adequately address the dynamic nature of a wireless environment. A WLAN's traffic demands and radio performance change dynamically, and network performance, as seen by users, can suffer if the WLAN's parameters are not optimized and reviewed regularly. Long-term throughput degradation resulting from poor performance can be even more costly to an organization than short-term outages.

WLAN managers realize that if they are to maintain the kind of performance that an organization expects from a wireless network, they must seek tools that can regularly monitor performance and allow easy identification of the root cause of performance problems.

Currently, the typical AP vendor provides only device-configuration tools or web-based device management, and very little in the way of capacity management or networking management. But this segment of the WLAN marketplace is evolving rapidly; it is now possible to find vendors that offer network management tools, although they vary greatly in usability, performance, interoperability and manageability. These vendors include 3Com, AirWave, Cisco Systems, Computer Associates, Lucent Technologies, Sniffer Technologies, Symbol Technologies, Vernier Networks, Wavelinke, WildPackets, Wireless Valley Communications, and others.

Many managers also find wireless network analyzers to be useful as a WLAN management tool. While not scalable for large WLANs, managers of smaller wireless networks can use a wireless network analyzer for site surveying, troubleshooting, intrusion detection, and logging.because they can observe each of the layers of the stack and quickly reveal problems. This can greatly reduce the amount of time spent diagnosing or pinpointing, whether the issue is wired or wireless in nature.

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