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List:       computerguys-l
Subject:    Re: Wireless LAN applications - Pro and Con
From:       Mike Magruder <mikemag () MICROSOFT ! COM>
Date:       2001-01-26 19:27:07
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We have an extensive wireless lan here that I've been taking advantage of
for about 6 months now. I don't know all the details of the equipment, but
I'll tell you what I do know:

1) I've got a Cisco Aironet 340 series pcmcia card sticking out of the side
of my Toshiba laptop.
2) There are little blue stickers on the ceiling of each hallway at about
100ft intervals. I understand that in the ceiling above each blue sticker is
some type of wireless hub, also made by Cisco. There are blue stickers like
these every 100ft on every hall on every floor of every building. I believe
these access points cost about $750 a pop.
3) The max transfer rate is 11mb. This will drop if the signal quality drops
enough.
4) I'm in a typical 4 story office building (concrete floors, drywall walls
with metal studs) and even with an access point every 100ft I'm showing a
signal strength of 58% sitting here in my office. There is an access point
about 30ft from me.
5) I keep a normal pcmcia 10/100 net card in the other slot of my Toshiba.
I've told Win2k that the wireless net card is an extra hop over the normal
card, and while I'm at my desk I keep the 100mb line plugged in. When I go
to a meeting and I actually need to take my laptop with me, I just unplug
the 100mb wire and go. Win2k falls over to the 11mb wireless and I don't
loose any connections. (I.e., I use a 100mb wired network when I can, which
is most of the time.)
6) I can't make it between two buildings without loosing connections. On
average, we loose connectivity about 50ft from the buildings here.
7) One day I was outside of the conference center sitting on a bench right
next to a long wall made entirely of glass. I had no signal. I went inside
of the building and sat in a chair on the other side of the glass, not 10ft
from where I was before, and I had a perfect signal. Go figure.

All in all, my impression is that unless you really need to hop from meeting
to meeting with your laptop in hand, maintaining net connectivity the entire
time, then wireless is a waste of time and money. Its 10x slower, and cost
way, way more.

Hope that helps,

Mike



-----Original Message-----
From: FamServ [mailto:famserv@IQUEST.NET]
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2001 11:36 AM
To: COMPUTERGUYS-L@LISTSERV.AOL.COM
Subject: [CGUYS] Wireless LAN applications - Pro and Con


Mornin' -

    I'm working on a grant request in which we would include fast ethernet
LAN wiring for approximately 10 - 12 offices.  There are some machines in
place (mostly Pentium II or better), but most workstations would include new
PCs.

    One of our board members is suggesting we look at wireless, but it is
not something I feel up to speed on.  If you good folk could share some of
your thoughts, either in the group or directly at famserv@iquest.net, I
would be most appreciative.  What issues do we need to be concerned about?
Is wireless a good solution for this size group?  What questions are
important that I haven't thought of?

TIA,

Rick Scalf
Quality Assurance Technician
Family Service Bartholomew County


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