Drawbacks to Wireless...

[monkeylizard]

I've found lots of sites touting the positives of Wireless LAN (mostly vendors of the equipment) but can't find much trashing it. I know there are downsides besides the current 11MBps limit. Anyone here have any 1st hand experience?

Here's my situation...I have a remote office of 3 employees. They currently use Dial-Up access, via a VPN solution, but of course 33.6 and 56K connections are bad. I'm going to add a frame relay (64 or 128K PVC) circuit to that office. However, there's no existing inside wiring for a LAN.

On the plus side for wireless, I can add an access point in our home office for their useage while they are here. I can also cut out the cost of a pricey switch (no, hubs and chaeper switches are not an option...politics) by running their access point directly into the router. It will also allow them to work from anywhere in their office (only about 20'x40') instead of just their desk area (a 12'x20' section of the total office space).

On the down side for wireless, 11MBps instead of 100MBps. However, how much difference will that make for three users on a 64-128K frame only hitting the Net, e-mail (Notes) and some minor file swapping?

Anything I need to be cautious of when implementing wireless?

Monkeylizard
-Isaiah 35-

 

[2ffat]

Some things to note: The faster the wireless speed, the less distance you can get out of the LAN. This means that you will need more transceivers. Depending on the mode, e.g., 802.11b, you may have a limited number of transceivers you can put on a LAN segment.

Also, depending on the building, distance may be further limited. A wall lined with metal shelves or even books blocks more of the frequency. Badly wired electrical devices can cause interference though this is not usually a problem with "newer" office buildings.

My advice, see if an implemeter will allow you to have a trial period to see if there is a problem. Some of the better vendors will conduct a site survey. They come in with a spectrum analyzer, check for interference then make a temporary connection and try out the range at your site. Well worth the price, IMHO.
James P. Cottingham

http://www.ivcusa.com

 

[bcorbett]

Yes the key is to get a loaner for trial. I recently set up a 3 floor 14 access point and up 200 user site. In an effort to save some money, You can do a site survey yourself. The site survey software came with our product. Trial and error but it works wonderful. We are in a medical Building with heavy usage. With no performance issues at all. We are expanding now to include not just laptops/handhelds, but PC's as well as a new wirless print server when avilable.

 

[pmkincaid]

Three words -- encryption, encryption, encryption... The biggest downside to wireless is most implementations do nothing for security. There was an article (sorry I can't remember where...) but someone over a few year period drove the streets of San Francisco and found thousands of networks that he could have gotten access to via wireless.

Make sure anything that you implement takes security into account as the number one priority - speed means nothing when a hacker is using your network to break in somewhere else....

Hope this helps,
Paul

 

[Guest_imported]

Is DSL or Cable internet access available in your location.
Netopia has a good router that supports DSL and Cable Modems. You can astablish a vpn using the netopia and patch your users into the router. It is also an 8 port hub. If you are set on wireless. You can do it with a linkysys Cable/DSl wirless router. It also can do a vpn connection to your router at you main business site. I believe it has Ipsec encryption.It has a built in 4 port hub.You can buy the wireless adapters that work with the router. Sonic wall is also a good product to look at for remote office connections.

 

[pjsilver]

I am on my second Wireless Router -first Linksys and now SMC Barricade. If I am in the same room as the router and connected by cable to the HP printer all is well. But after upgrading to XP and replacing the printer drivers I can no longer print reliably by wireless. SMC does not yet have a revised print server that will work with HP and XP. And they don't seem to want to talk about it. I can print as much as 98% of a document but the last few lines are incomplete. It is probably a minor adjustment but after days of exchanging emails, tweaking controls and the Registry I give up. Also SMC router does not support bidirectional communication so scanning is out.

I am 75% satistified with wireless. It may be great one day.

One needs to keep ones expectations in perspective.
p

 

[wilbrian]

Yes the key is to get a loaner for trial. I recently set up a 3 floor 14 access point and up 200 user site. In an effort to save some money, You can do a site survey yourself. The site survey software came with our product. Trial and error but it works wonderful. We are in a medical Building with heavy usage. With no performance issues at all. We are expanding now to include not just laptops/handhelds, but PC's as well as a new wirless print server when avilable.

bcorbett.......

Which product was this that included site surfey software??