Benefits Of Wireless (wi-fi) Networks Over Wired Lan Networks

Have you ever thought of having an all wireless workplace? Do you think that it's not potential at this time/ it is not sensible? If your answer to that question is yes, then you would like to browse this text for sure. Let us take a look at the reverse scenario 1st: What could presumably be the advantages of wired networks over wireless networks? Well, the immediate points that comes to our mind might be the following: 1. Speed. Wireless networks are considered to be slow and having a low bandwidth. 2. Real time applications. Wireless networks cannot handle real time applications like voice and video. 3. Security. The wireless signals reach even across the road. What if somebody hacks in to my network? 4. Incompatibility: Certain devices like printers etc. don't seem to be Wi-Fi enabled. The PC does not have Wi-Fi cards. Let us observe each purpose individually (I'm writing this article in the point of view of an enterprise/workplace network, and hence I am assuming that the Wi-Fi network is constructed using Wireless Controllers, Access Points and Management Software) Speed: Wired networks had a tight speed of a hundred Mbps and these days have a speed of a thousand Mbps. Wireless networks only have a speed of 54 Mbps and that too is shared among many users. Offer me one application which would take up one thousand Mbps per port, or even 100 Mbps per port and then in all probability I might settle for the on top of statement. google_ad_client = "pub-2311940475806896"; /* 300x250, created 1/6/11 */ google_ad_slot = "0098904308"; google_ad_width = 300; google_ad_height = 250; The fact is, even if your office runs demanding applications like multimedia, ERP, video etc, the most bandwidth requirement per user could not cross even four Mbps! Now take the 54 Mbps of Wi-Fi networks and assume that 15 folks are connecting to it, each user might get around 2.five Mbps, that is sufficient for many of the applications that we have a tendency to have these days, and if all the fifteen users don't connect at the same time, one user might get even more bandwidth. Of course, with the appearance of 802.11n customary for Wi-Fi, the bandwidth out there per access purpose is around 300 Mbps and can bit 600 Mbps in the near future. Thus, even if 15 folks connect with one 802.11n access point, they might get in more than twenty Mbps, that is more than sufficient for most of the applications on the network today. Real Time Applications: What if I run PC based video conferencing in my company? Will the wireless networks handle real time traffic? A tight video conferencing consumer might not take a lot of than 256-384 Kbps for giving thirty f/s quality video with H.264 compression. How several such conferences are visiting happen simultaneously? And real time applications run terribly well if your wireless controller can support WMM - Wireless Multi Media protocol that prioritize the real time traffic over the normal traffic, and most of the controllers nowadays support it. Even voice is supported on the wireless LAN - together with the seamless handover from one AP to a different, if you are carrying the VoWLAN handsets. There's an interesting technology that is growing quick, which is named FMC - Fixed Mobile Convergence where your IP Phones and Cell phones will be integrated with one mobile handset and you've got one variety for both. Though IP Land line Phones aren't supported by Wireless Networks, such innovations (Like FMC and VoWLAN handsets for voice over wireless LAN) facilitate include additional options als o provide the basic service a lot of additional efficiently. Security The wireless signals will penetrate the walls and in fact go across the road - what if some one hacks my network? This can be a legitimate concern. The protection is compromised if your wireless communications are not encrypted with the most recent standards and proper security policies don't seem to be applied. However if the security policies are applied in step with the latest standards (like 802.11i etc), then the possibilities of breaking the network from outside is terribly less. Conjointly, there are Wireless Intrusion prevention software's that are on the market within the market these days that keep scanning for wireless threats and intrusions and that they notify or even thwart makes an attempt to intrude in to your wireless network automatically. Incompatibility: There are specific devices that are not yet Wi-Fi compatible - like certain printers, fax machines etc. However you will be stunned at how several devices are Wi-Fi compliant and have commercially prepared Wi-Fi based product already - Surveillance Cameras, Multi-Perform Devices, Access Control Card readers, Laptops, Projectors and virtually every network based mostly device includes a Wi-Fi compliant model. Even if sure product don't seem to be Wi-Fi compliant, cables could be drawn selectively for those applications alone, rather than wiring the full office with three ports per cubicle! Of course, Wireless Access Points need to be connected to LAN cables at the back end, therefore a restricted variety of wired switch ports is anyway required. And there are forever USB based Wi-Fi adaptors that can be used to form a desktop laptop (PC) wireless. So, having established that wired networks don't seem to be inherently superior to current generation wireless networks, let us now observe the extra advantages that wireless networks give over wired networks : Less Value - Saving not only in the quantity of cables, switch ports required however also in the cost of passive components. Comfort and Mobility - The wireless networks are accessible anywhere - even in the canteen and therefore the lawn. All you would like may be a Wi-Fi enabled laptop to access them. And therefore the users can connect to the network from anywhere - cubicles, conference rooms, lawns etc. Redundancy: If an Access Point fails, another neighbouring access point will automatically connect the users (without having to change the port affiliation manually like in wired networks). Network access management, AD integration: The centralized management functionality of the wired networks using Active Directory (or LDAP etc) is on the market with most of the wireless networks today. After all, controller based wireless networks will additionally provide network access management - grouping the users and deciding that users have access to that resources in the network (Restricting certain users from accessing the web, etc). Load balancing: The access points will automatically push the users to neighbouring access points if they are overloaded. Some controllers even enable to restrict the bandwidth that a single user/cluster will access in the LAN, so that they do not overload the network. There are a number of a lot of, however if you want to discuss any on the same or on any specific topic, leave out to our blog. There is an entire category on wireless networks!

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