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Wireless Networks

Notes But one place has stayed resolutely wired: the enterprise. Yes, many offices these days will have
Wi-Fi but often it is reserved for senior management or visitors. Even if it is available for all
workers, the connection is rarely the most reliable.
While a physical infrastructure may be good from a management point of view and offer cheap
deployment, having all those wires running throughout a building can be costly and awkward
to maintain. For example, if a business increases its workforce, all those new workers will need
physical connections at their desk – connections that will need to be manually set up. Any
breakages in the wired connection will also have to be manually fixed as there is no software
solution to a broken Ethernet pin.
With the explosion in mobile devices over the last few years – Apple alone has sold around 100
million iPads since the tablet was introduced in 2010 – many workers are bringing their own
devices into the office. It is vital these employees have access to the corporate network to get the
most out of them, and that means giving them wireless access. As well as being able to use their
own devices, wireless infrastructure means freedom to move around the office, from desk to desk
or meeting room to meeting room.
A wireless network is also neater, getting rid of all those unsightly cables that usually run around
an office.

7.2.2 How Wireless LANs are Used in the Real World?

Wireless LANs have many applications in the real world. They are frequently used to enhance a
wired network, not to completely replace them. The following describes some of the applications
that are made possible through the power and flexibility of wireless LAN technology.

z z Healthcare: Doctors and nurses equipped with laptops or PDAs have faster access to
patient data. Furthermore, in an emergency situation they can communicate with other
departments within the hospital by using WLAN in order to provide quick diagnostics.
This is an area where WLAN is allready relatively widely used. As in a majority of cases,
WLAN is used to enhance an allready existing wired network.
z z Conducting everyday business: In business, people can work productively with customers
or suppliers in meeting rooms - there is no need to leave the room to check if important
emails have arrived or print big files. Instead you can send them from one laptop to another.
Senior executives in meetings can make quicker decisions because they have access to real-
time information.
z z Network managers in older buildings: Network managers in older buildings, such as
schools, hospitals, and warehouses, find WLANs to be a most cost-effective infrastructure
solution. When building a new network or expanding the old in-house network, few if any
cables need be drawn thru the walls and ceilings.

z z Network managers in dynamic environments: Network managers in dynamic environments
minimize the cost of moves, network extensions, and other changes by eliminating the cost
of cabling and installation. The mobile nature of WLAN allows the building and testing of
a new network before moving to mission-critical surroundings.

7.2.3 How Wireless LANs Work?

WLANs use radio, infrared and microwave transmission to transmit data from one point to another
without cables. Therefore WLAN offers way to build a Local Area Network without cables. This
WLAN can then be attached to an allready existing larger network, the internet for example.
A wireless LAN consists of nodes and access points. A node is a computer or a peripheral (such
as a printer) that has a network adapter, in WLANs case with an antenna. Access points function
as transmitters and receivers between the nodes themselves or between the nodes and another
network. More on this later.

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