Until recently, LANs were limited to the physical, hard-wired infrastructure of the building. Even with phone dial-ups, network nodes were limited to access through wired, land line connections.
Many network users, especially mobile executives and specialists in the medical profession, factories, universities and other fields demanded mobility and the pressure to break the tethers of conventional network connections grew.
"Recently the market for wireless communications has enjoyed significant growth. Wireless technology now reaches - or is capable of reaching - virtually every location on the face of the earth," says 3Com chief technology officer Wolfgang Held.
"In South Africa, millions of people exchange information every day using pagers, cellular telephones and other wireless communication devices."
Held says there are a number of applications that are poised to make a considerable impact on the business world through the power and flexibility of wireless LANs:
Sales managers making real-time decisions in meetings based on current forecasting and inventory information.
Visiting employees to a branch office quickly checking e-mail or exchanging information without making a wired network connection.
Network-ready conference rooms where employees access e-mail, applications, and the Internet, or conference rooms which can be easily converted into training rooms without rewiring.
On-site consultants and small workgroups improving productivity through the use of an ad hoc network at another company.
Hospital personnel providing better service by accessing a complete patient profile on a handheld or notebook computer upon entrance into a patient`s room.
Network managers in dynamic environments minimizing the overhead of moves, additions, and changes, thereby reducing network operating costs.
Students at universities using wireless connectivity to access digital libraries, conduct research, and pick up homework assignments.
"With tremendous growth of wireless telephony through cellular services, it is hardly surprising that wireless communication is being applied to the realm of personal and business computing," continues held.
"No longer bound by the harnesses of wired networks, users will be able to access and share information on a global scale from nearly any location. The power of networking and collaborative, distributed computing is beginning to be realised."
Held lists a number of situations where a wireless solution would be required for desktop PCs. These include buildings or office space where it is difficult or impossible to pull cables, such as places with brick walls or asbestos in the ceiling and locations that have stand-alone PCs, such as schools and libraries.
"In addition, wireless technology makes sense in places where PCs are needed temporarily, such as crisis management centers, or other ad hoc groups," he says.
3Com is addressing this market with its AirConnect range.
Says Held: "This solution gives users total connectivity when and where they need it - with performance over five times faster than existing wireless LANs."
Each AirConnect unit attaches to the network via a 10BASE-T connection to support up to 63 wireless clients per access point with around 100 metre radius (200m end-to-end) of wireless coverage.
A Power Over 10BASE-T feature provides DC power to access points over the same 10BASE-T connection, eliminating the need for a separate power drop to each access point.
The AirConnect Access Points work with AirConnect PC Cards in notebook computers, and AirConnect PCI Cards in desktop computers to enable wireless clients to send and receive information at 11 Mbps.
AirConnect solutions allow users to roam between Access Points while maintaining network connections.
AirConnect Wireless LAN solutions are IEEE 802.11b (High Rate) compliant and IEEE 802.11 compatible.
As a result, they will work with other Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) wireless LAN products that are based on these standards.
AirConnect solutions operate at 2.4 GHz, allowing them to be deployed in most countries.
3Com AirConnect Wireless LAN PC Cards or PCI cards support Windows 95, 98, Windows 2000 and Windows CE systems.
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