Advantages and disadvantages of Wireless LAN

An important advantage of a wireless LAN is the flexibility. It is easy to expand a wireless network for multiple workstations, because no wiring need to be constructed. Users can independently of the location of the network connection work or move within range of the wireless network. The Access Points, which are called cells, may overlap. There is always the best cell chosen. The number of cells to increase capacity may be increased. It may no longer than 3 overlapping cells.

There are also drawbacks. The radio has influence on the energy, which plays a role especially in laptops. It is therefore desirable laptop to connect to the mains. The Wi-Fi radio waves reach outside the building, which authorization is important, so not just any user access to the network. Wi-LAN provides encryption with 40 or 128 bits, from various reports show that safety is not optimal by security holes.

The health of wireless telecommunications is often discussed, in particular the radio frequency radiation from mobile. The fact is that a Wi-Fi uses much less power than a cell phone, about a factor of 10 to 20 lower. Moreover, the transmitter is not next to your ear like a mobile phone is the case.

The cost of a Wi-Fi network is still quite high, about fl 2500, - for a base station and fl 500, - for a Wireless LAN PC Card. A PCMCIA card is again slightly more expensive than a PC card. It may be saved on cabling costs. The cost compared to fixed network is not perfect, a wireless network provides more functionality as a wired network has a higher speed.