Wireless networking

[Legacy6]

I was recently tasked to investigate and make a recomandation for equipment for a wireless network in my office for something like 20-30 users, but I have no experience whatsoever with wireless devices. If some of you are already working with this kind on devices, pls let me know which products are you using and share your experience with them.

 

[JackMDS]

It depends what you have at the moment, and what the network is used for.

Most of current systems are -11Mbps, which slower then the fast cable based networks.

If you have already a network, and you want to add wireless stations for light work, you should get a Wireless access point. Access Point is plugged to an existing Hub and will connect between 128 wireless stations and the network.

Example: http://www.us.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10265493

If you want to Internet sharing, then you get Wireless Router.

Example: http://www.us.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10264442

Each station has to be equipped with Wireless network card.
Example for a card:

Laptop: .http://www.us.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10259400

Desktop: http://www.us.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10259384

USB Cards are coming out in the next few weeks.

The configuration is similar to regular Network.

I have a setting of SMC barricade wireless router. Main use is for network sharing, and light network exchange, works like a charm.

Similar products are available from other manufactures, like D-Link, and Linksys.

SMC has a strange links arrangement so I pointed to buy.com, but all the info is available on SMC site.

 

[Legacy6]

I guess I should explain the situation a little better. My company is looking into setting up the conference rooms in a couple of our offices with wireless networks (the wireless will have to work alongside our cable-based network and the wireless access point will have to be the gateway between the wireless-equiped laptops and the cables-based network). This makes it easier for guests or people attending meetings to access the email system, printers, file servers, etc, as they don't have to fight over the cable-based connections. This would also make our life easier as we no longer have to setup hubs and have all sorts of cables running through the room every time they decide to have a meeting. At any given time, there should be a max of 20-30 attendees. Given this situation, I would like to know if some of you have similar setups and if you can provide me with some info as to what products are you using and how they work for you.

 

[Legacy6]

bump

 

[Miraluka]

I had a wireless network set up in my house for 5 computers for a few months. IT SUCKED ASS. Packet loss was a HUGE factor in my switching to Cat5 cables.

 

[JackMDS]

Given your description I would suggest that you would get wireless kit. It consists of Access point and one card for laptop, and simulates what you need to do. All of the remarks that start or end with expressions like ?Rules? or ?Sucks? mean nothing. The differences between the tasks that are done by people on computers vary so much that unless some body describes exactly how and for what they are using the system it is meaningless to make decision.

According to your description a Wireless network will the best solution for your specific demand.

The variation and availability in Wireless is very limited at the moment. Most people who tried wireless tried the slow non-standard system that was available last year.

 

[Legacy6]

bump

 

[cakin]

I remember seeing a site a few months back that compared a number of wireless networking products (1.5 and 11 Mbs). Unfortunately I didn't bookmark it and can't seem to find it tonight. I now need to do some wireless here at the house to hook up my wifes new pc, isn't that the way it always works, now that I need the information I can't find it.

 

[vec]

I just set up a linksys access port (WAP-11) on my home lan for wireless network connection for my laptop which uses the linksys wireless pcmcia card (WPC-11). This set up works very well for simple uses like file/printer/internet sharing access. I haven't tried playing lan games yet.

In theory, you should be able to connect 1 access point in a central location and plug it into your existing network. This access point can supposedly handle up to 128 wireless nodes. Each node should have full access to your network service once they are configured.

At the very least you would need 1 access point and a pcmcia card for each node on the network. Start off with that and do some testing. If performance in terrible, experiment with the location of the access point or just buy another one access point to balance the load.

As far as which brands work best I don't know. I only have the linksys model which works ok for me. It doesn't like fast ethernet only hubs though.

 

[spidey07]

The cisco gear simply works great. By far the fastest and most reliable wireless we've tested.

Get an access point and some NICs and your all set.

 

[Legacy6]

bump

 

[Windogg]

My $.02. A well established wireless network can be great for business since it keeps people mobile and cuts down on unsightly wires. I took all my wirelss gear in to the office one day people loved it. Even though the stated indoor range is 150 feet, I'd say 20 - 30 feet is more realistic when you take into account walls and other interference. Right now I have one desktop in the living room that is about 15 feet from a WAP in a study. My laptop can pick up the network anywhere within the well insulated house. The max range I've used it within my house is 20 feet. During the office test we went 30 feet in a "cubicle farm" and still got a 11mbps connection. During the office test we had the benefit of some R&D people donating about 5 802.11b cards (my company fabs some of the chips) so we had 8 people going at once with no problems in terms of bandwidth.

My equipment is one D-Link 1000 access point I got for buy.com for $175, 2 Linksys PC card, and 1 Linksys PC Card/PCI card. If you are concerned about security, many high end WAPs wil the Cisco Aironet have encryption up to 128bit. In addition you can restrict access to certain MAC addresses so no intruders can latch on to your network.

 

[Legacy6]

bump

 

[ktwebb]

20 - 30 feet is more realistic? Christ, that is horrible. The SOHO equipment you can buy retail should be at least 30 mW which should far exceed your experience. Obviously wall and flooring makeup affect penetration, but you should be doing much better than that. Given a normal 30 mW, or using the Lucent 40 mW, or even better, waiting for the Cisco 350, which will be 100 mW will get you much better than 20 or 30 feet. If you can find an old Aironet 4800 AP they are also 100 milliwatt. The only reason you would see 20-30 feet is if you are going through very thick walls with rebar or steel reinforcement. In a building with sheetrock or drywall, you can expect 1 to 3 rooms on either side of the room you set the AP. Mileage varies, but 30 feet would not be worth buying the AP. I cell the Cisco product but it is marketed to the coporate environment, which it sounds like you qualify for. If you want a top quality product, with room for growth, the Cisco is the best 802.11b product out there. I have tested most of them, and I would not sell a tier 2 or 3 product like the Linksys or SMC to those customers. For your house, those vendors are fine, but not for an office with 30 users. One thing to consider though, the Cisco 342 does not route. They have been promising a firmware upgrade for a while, but presently it just passes data. Any specific questions you might have feel free to ask. I am working on a 500 AP site survey at Tulane right now, and come across almost every possible coverage and connectivity issue.

 

[Legacy6]

Thanks guys for all your input. I looked through the specs of a bunch of solutions provided by various manufacturers and read a couple of reviews and I realize I have 2 choices. My first choice would be the equipment provided by Cisco. Great features, great performance, pricey though, but hey, we're talking about a corporation here; I wouldn't even dare bring in the likes of D-Link or Linksys, not unless I have a wish of getting my arse kicked. Nothing against those 2 companies (I happen to personaly own a Linksys cable router and it works great), but their products seem to be more welcome at home than at work. The only problem with Cisco though is that our vendors only have them on "purchase upon request" which only delays delivery and raises the price even more. So my only real choice is now 3Com which comes in very close to Cisco in terms of features and performance, it's slightly cheaper, and it's readily available. In the next few days I'll try to get my hands on one of those starter packs and see how it performs for us. If everything works good, then we're set; if not, then I guess we have to find a way to try the Cisco products.