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An infrastructure need not be buried in the ground or hidden behind the walls. An "infrastructure" can move and change at the speed of the organization. This technology has several immediate applications, including:

• IT professionals or business executives who want mobility within the enterprise, perhaps in addition to a traditional wired network. Business owners or IT directors who need flexibility for frequent LAN wiring changes, either throughout the site or in selected areas.


• Any organization whose site is not conducive to LAN wiring because of building or budget limitations, such as older buildings, leased space or even temporary sites.


• Any company that needs the flexibility and cost savings offered by a line-of-sight, building-to-building bridge to avoid expensive trenches, leased lines, or right-of-way issues.


• WLANs use a transmission medium, just like wired LANs. Instead of using twisted pair or fiber-optic cable, WLANs use either infrared light (IR) or radio frequencies (RF). Of the two, RF is far more popular for its longer range, higher bandwidth and wider coverage. Most wireless LANs today make use of the 2.4-gigahertz (GHz) frequency band, the only portion of the RF spectrum reserved around the world for unlicensed devices. The freedom and flexibility of wireless networking can be applied both within buildings and between line-of-site buildings.

In-Building WLANs
WLAN technology can take the place of a traditional wired network or extend its reach and capabilities. Much like their wired counterparts, in-building WLAN equipment consists of PC Card, Personal Computer Interface (PCI), and client adapters, as well as access points, which perform functions similar to wired networking hubs. Similar to wired LANs for small or temporary installations, a WLAN can be arranged in a peer-to-peer or ad-hoc topology using only client adapters. For added functionality and range, access points can be incorporated to act as the center of a star topology and function as a bridge to an Ethernet network as well.

Within a building, wireless enables computing that is both mobile and connected. With a PC Card client adapter installed in a notebook or handheld PC, users can move freely within a facility while maintaining access to the network.

Applying wireless LAN technology to desktop systems provides an organization with flexibility impossible with a traditional LAN. Desktop client systems can be located in places where running cable is impractical or impossible. Desktop PCs can be redeployed anywhere within a facility as frequently as needed, making wireless ideal for temporary workgroups and fast growing organizations.

Building-to-Building WLANs
In much the same way that a commercial radio signal can be picked up in all sorts of weather miles from its transmitter, WLAN technology applies the power of radio waves to truly redefine the "local" in LAN. With a wireless bridge, networks located in buildings miles from each other can be integrated into a single local area network. When bridging between buildings with traditional copper or fiber-optic cable, freeways, lakes, and even local governments can be impassible obstacles

Without a wireless alternative, organizations frequently resort to wide area networking (WAN) technologies to link together separate LANs. Contracting with a local telephone provider for a leased line presents a variety of drawbacks. Installation is typically expensive and rarely immediate. Recurring monthly fees are often quite high for bandwidth that by LAN standards are very low.

A wireless bridge can be purchased and then installed in a day for a cost that is often comparable to a T1 installation charge alone. Once the investment is made, there are no recurring charges. And today's wireless bridges provide the bandwidth one would expect from a technology rooted in data, rather than voice communications.

The Wireless LAN Standard
In the wired world, Ethernet has grown to become the predominant LAN technology. Its evolution parallels, and indeed foreshadows, the development of the wireless LAN standard. Defined by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) with the 802.3 standard, Ethernet provides an evolving, high-speed, widely available and interoperable networking standard. It has continued to evolve to keep pace with the data rate and throughput requirements of contemporary LANs. Originally providing for 10 megabits per second (Mbps) transfer rates, the Ethernet standard evolved to include the 100 Mbps transfer rates required for network backbones and bandwidth intensive applications.

The first wireless LAN technologies were low speed (1-2 Mbps) proprietary offerings. Despite these shortcomings, the freedom and flexibility of wireless allowed these early products to find a place in vertical markets such as retail and warehousing where mobile workers use handheld devices for inventory management and data collection. Later, hospitals applied wireless technology to deliver patient information directly to the bedside. And as computers made their way into the classrooms, schools and universities began installing wireless networks to share Internet access and avoid cabling costs.

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