LSC 508 Homepage

Local Area Networks

Wide Area Networks

Wireless
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wireless technology allows you to network with other computers without wires. For example, Apple's Airport Extreme uses IEEE 802.11g wireless draft specification to serve up to 50 Mac and/or PC users at 54 Mbps. It has a range of 150 feet . An Airport Extreme Base Station allows users' computers equipped with Airport/Airport Extreme Cards to use the Internet and the printer to which the base station computer is connected.

There are others on the market such as Wireless Bluetooth, Wireless G Broadband Cable/DSL Router by Lynksys, and the Belkin Complete Wireless Networking Bundle. Like Aiport, a base station and appropriate cards in the computers served are needed. The speed, power and capabilities change quickly so you should compare the specifications of the various options on the market.

The main advantage to wireless is naturally the lack of the umbilical cord between the base computer and those served by it. Most systems include security such as encryption, filtering devices and firewalls. The primary disadvantage is the speed - it is much slower than an Ethernet cable connection.

WANs