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7 tips for going
wireless | |
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The
scene is a familiar one at health-care facilities,
professional offices, college classrooms and even
your neighborhood cafe. People are taking laptop
PCs wherever they want to check e-mail or surf the
Internet.
They're getting network and
Internet access through wireless networks, where
devices are connected through radio signals rather
than wires. Couldn't you use one for your small or
home-based business?
More and more people are
asking this question, as wireless LANs — or
local-area networks — continue to get better and
easier to use. Despite the tech slump of recent
years, sales of wireless networks continued
strong. Annual revenue from wireless LAN equipment
is predicted to jump to .5 billion in 2006 from 9
million in 2000, according to Allied Business
Intelligence, an Oyster Bay, N.Y., research
firm.
Sales have risen as prices have dropped.
A wireless network typically consists of at least
one centrally located access point and separate
network access cards for each computing device. An
access point for a home or small office can cost
as little as 0, down from more than ,000 in recent
years, and access cards range from to 0 each, also
down from more than a ,000. While wired systems
(with cable networks) generally remain cheaper,
you can install many wireless networks yourself
and save on labor costs.
If you're
upgrading your network or setting one up for the
first time, here are seven things to consider in
buying a wireless LAN. |
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1. |
Know the
different wireless LAN standards — 802.11b,
802.11a and 802.11g — and the pros and cons of
each. Most Wi-Fi (short for "wireless
fidelity") networks to date have been based on
the 802.11b standard, created in 1999. Long the
most popular standard, 802.11b works well for
many businesses. But it is no longer the
standard of choice, with the advancements made
by 802.11g. Its biggest shortcoming is in having
the slowest maximum speed — it supports
bandwidth of only up to 11 megabits per second
(mbps). On the flip side, 802.11b has a signal
range of 300 feet or so, about five times that
of 802.11a, and can be purchased at the lowest
cost of the three standards.
The biggest
selling point of 802.11a is the faster speed —
it supports bandwidth of up 54 mbps. It also
generally supports more simultaneous users than
802.11b and its regulated frequencies prevent
signal interference from appliances and other
devices. But the higher speed and bandwidth are
countered by the reduction in transmission range
or distance. "As the frequency and amount of
data held go up, the range goes down — by simple
laws of physics," says Joshua Wise, a wireless
research analyst. Also, because 802.11a utilizes
a different frequency than 802.11b, the two
technologies are incompatible, meaning you can't
mix the two and count on them to
interoperate.
Time to talk about 802.11g:
It's newer, the most promising of the three, and
has been supported by wireless networks since
2002. 802.11g combines the best of both 802.11b
and 802.11a — it supports bandwidth of up to 54
mbps and uses the same 2.4 GHz frequency as
802.11b to offer greater range than 802.11a. It
also is backwards compatible with 802.11b, which
means that 802.11g access points will work with
802.11b wireless network adapters and vice
versa.
It's drawback? Because it received
Wi-Fi certification as recently as July 2003, it
has fewer products on the market and they cost
more than 802.11b (in time, this will change).
Also, early tests found uneven performance, and
that it was not clearly superior to either
802.11a or the lower-cost 802.11b. But 802.11g
products have continued to improve and have
increasingly become the best choice. (Get ready
for even more alphabet soup in the
not-too-distant future: 802.11e, 802.11h,
802,11i, 802.11n, and even a new set of numbers
such as 802.15.) |
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2. |
Dismiss the
marketing hype and address your needs.
If mobility isn't important to your business,
you may be wasting your time worrying about a
wireless network. But more and more businesses
today have workers who don't camp out in offices
all day.
A wireless network is a boon to a
business in a short-term location. You can pick
up a wireless network and take it with you from
building space to building space. It is also
scalable; you can expand your network with
additional access cards and another access
point, if necessary.
Still, wireless networks
aren't for every business, and should be
considered complementary to wired systems, which
likely always will offer greater speed and
bandwidth capacity. |
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3. |
Buy from
trusted vendors that are "small-business
friendly." You have big guys (Cisco
Systems, Cingular Wireless, 3Com and others),
smaller guys (D-Link and LinkSys, among others)
and numerous startups in this space. Some cater
mostly to the more lucrative large enterprise
market, while others have jumped in more
recently to fill a niche in the small-business
and home-office markets. Still others seek the
best of both worlds.
The important thing
here, says Kneko Burney, chief market strategist
for business infrastructure and services at
In-Stat/MDR, is to deal with a vendor that
specializes in serving small businesses and that
speaks your language — not the language of an IT
administrator. "You don't want to end up with
instructions you don't understand, or things you
don't know how to use," she says. |
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4. |
Buy wireless
systems that interoperate with wired
networks. The beauty of wireless is the
flexibility it offers your business to expand or
relocate. Many systems can easily be hooked up
to a wired system, now or in the future. Don't
compromise this flexibility by buying a system
that is difficult or impossible to integrate
with a wired system. Check with your vendor
about the integration capabilities.
Also, buy
a system that can easily integrate with
new-generation networks, as well as with
different-branded networks. As your business
grows, you may choose to put your more mobile
employees, such as salespeople, on a different
network than those who spend most of their time
in the office. Again, you want
flexibility. |
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5. |
If you have
more than six employees, consider hiring a
consultant for installation and
support. Small wireless networks are
generally easy to install yourself. The more
users you have, the more complicated it becomes.
Also, the greater the need for ongoing
support.
If you haven't already, it may be
time to hire a technology consultant to oversee
network implementation and, if possible, serve
your business's entire technology needs. Once
you find one you can trust, work out a service
agreement to cover installation and support as
well as remote access, future integration with
DSL, and so on. |
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6. |
Beware of
potential interference problems.
Wireless networks are known to slow down or
fizzle out in certain room or office locations.
It may be a microwave oven causing the bandwidth
congestion, it may be a filing cabinet, or even
a particular wall or floor.
Work with your
vendor and/or consultant to determine what kind
of interference you might expect and where the
best place in your office might be to locate
your access point. If you still find that your
new wireless network works only in a tiny corner
of your business, you've probably got a cheap
and inferior system. Time to switch to something
better. |
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7. |
Last but not
least, beware of security issues. If
you haven't read about the security holes in
many wireless networks, you haven't been
reading. When I said wireless networks aren't
perfect, here is another reason why.
However,
most of the networks penetrated intentionally or
accidentally have been at larger businesses,
hospitals and other organizations. "This not
nearly as serious an issue in small businesses
as it is in the larger enterprises," says Jason
Smolek, research analyst for International Data
Corp.
Still, be mindful of the possibility.
That laptop user visiting your office may be
wearing a sneaky smile for good reason. He just
might have hacked into something of
yours. | |
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