Anyone who's ever scaled a ladder to lay networking cables through a drop ceiling knows that fine-tuning a company's networking needs is tough work. And anyone in the IT department of a small- to medium-sized business (SMB) knows that their network needs are constantly in flux.
Thankfully, a solution exists that meets an SMB's flexibility requirements and alleviates the headache of constantly laying network cables. It's the wireless LAN, and it allows your company to build a flexible network using radio signals instead of cables.
Wireless LANs, at their most basic, consist of two components: a wireless access point and a wireless-enabled client. The access point is a paperback-sized device with an antenna on top that transmits the radio signal to the client, which can be a notebook or desktop computer, PDA, printer, or just about any other networked device in an enterprise. Many HP notebooks and peripheral devices come with wireless capability built in. You'll need to check each device before installing your wireless network. Add-on cards and antennas are available for most recent-model computers and peripherals.
Even though wireless LANs can be a blessing to your enterprise, you'll want to do some homework before adding wireless to your existing network or going all-wireless. First, you'll need to assess your network from an access perspective, determining who in your organization would benefit most from going wireless.
Typical questions you'll want to ask include:
- Who in my organization uses a notebook versus a desktop computer? Notebook users in a wireless network can bring their computers to meetings and access vital information without running back to their desks.
- What's the physical size of my office? Most access points reliably transmit radio signals up to about 150 feet. If your office is bigger than that, or is situated on different floors, you'll want to purchase the correct number of wireless access points.
- How many employees will use the wireless network? Up to 20 employees can use a single wireless access point. If your employee count is higher, you'll need additional access points.
The final--and very important--step is to secure your wireless network. This can be done by turning on the encryption and media access control (MAC) addressing in the software that comes with your wireless access point. For the utmost security, consider creating a virtual private network for your wireless LAN.
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