wireless connection to lan

[ajduk1]

Hi
I know very little about networking but here we go.I have been asked to see if I can setup a wireless connection in 1 room to our lan/internet.
At the moment we connect to both the internet and our file & print server through a cat 5 patch lead run from a switch in our server room to a socket in our offices from where we connect a patch lead into the PC/laptop to connect to the internet & lan.All laptops are new dell latitude d610's with an inbuilt wireless 1450 dual band wlan mini pci card.
Is it simply a case of purchasing a wireless router attaching it to the patch lead, thus bridging the gap wirelessly from the laptop to the patch lead without physically connecting it to the back of the machine.

 

[Supergrrover]

That is about it. If you have a DHCP server already set up and want to be able to connect back to the laptops (RDP, VNC, etc.) I would go with an Access Point over a router. The router means that you would have to open up ports to get back and forth. If these aren't an issue for you, then a wireless firewall/router is fine. Once you hit a certain number of users, there will be a point that the wireless environment gets congested. Also speed will be an issue. G products are 54Mb but actual throughput is more like 20-35Mb. The Cat5 cable (100Mb) is more like 65-85Mb. So your users will notice a bit of a delay if there is heavy file access.

Be sure to secure it using WPA at least. Don't want any random people hopping on your network and doing stuff.


Brent
Systems Engineer / Consultant
CCNP, CCSP

 

[ajduk1]

The users already require a user-ID/Password to access the network, would this be OK?
I just need to allow the users to be able to access the network the way they do now but without connecting / disconnecting the patch lead.Also this would allow 2/3 users the access the same file on their own laptop during a meeting rather than all crowding around 1 laptop.

 

[Supergrrover]

Unless you are using 802.1x you would still want WPA for the wireless. If you don't then hackers or other curious people will have a foothold on your network. From there they can launch attacks, exploits, or other malicious activity. For security, I would put the WPA passphrase on the notebooks yourself so they can't spread that password around.

Think of security in layers. If they want to get in and don't belong, they are going to have to work for it.


Brent
Systems Engineer / Consultant
CCNP, CCSP