Wireless Personal and Local Area Networks

Wireless LANs are the 'silver bullet' for networks of the future, allowing small communities of office workers, industrial workers, hospital employees, technical teams, etc. to communicate via their mobile devices without having to worry about cables. The scenarios include: small buisnesses where everyone's lap tops are connected the minute they walk through the door so they can move around from office to meeting room and stay on the network throughout; hospital nurses carrying out foetal scans without the need for the scanning device to be connected to the screen; construction sites where the technical foreman can log onto the same system as the architect and compare plans on their respective lap tops. At the moment there are various different technologies, all of which suit different scenarios. Many books discuss wLANs in concept, but do not cover the different technologies, or demonstrate how to build a wLAN with only one of the technologies. This book is unique in presenting the broader picture and providing decision makers with the tools they need to make the appropriate investment for their own situation. This is the only book that gives a broad overview of all the different technologies. It discusses which technologies are best for different situations and requirements along with business trade-offs. It gives practical hints and advice on how to implement the technologies, and includes a chapter on the practical details of operating an IEEE802.11b-wLAN together with application examples. It also covers security considerations.