Wireless Data Networks

Wireless LANs & Other Wireless Technologies

Wireless LANs provide all the functionality of wired LANs, but without the physical limits of the wire itself. Wireless LAN configurations include independent networks, offering peer-to-peer connectivity, and infrastructure networks, supporting fully distributed data communications. Point-to-point local-area wireless solutions, such as LAN-LAN bridging and personal-area networks (PANs), may overlap with some WLAN applications but they address different user needs. A wireless LAN-LAN bridge is an alternative to cable that connects LANs in two separate buildings.

A wireless PAN typically covers the few feet surrounding a useršs work space and provides the ability to synchronise computers, transfer files, and gain access to local peripherals.

Wireless LANs should not be confused with wireless metropolitan-area networks (WMANs), packet radio often used for law-enforcement or other such applications or with wireless wide-area networks (WWANs), wide-area data transmission over cellular or packet radio. These systems involve costly infrastructures, provide much lower data rates, and require users to pay for bandwidth on a time or usage basis. In contrast, on-site wireless LANs require no usage fees and provide 100 to 1000 times the data transmission rate.