Map I.T. Consulting

Small Business Technology Consultants

When you set up a business and install several computers it makes sense to network them. You’ll be able to share data and devices, such as printers or faxes, back up your data centrally and, of course, share access to the internet, so each computer can send and receive email and surf the web.

The drawback until now has been that networks involved wiring – and lots of it. To network each computer you needed to connect each computer via endless meters of expensive permanent cable. Cable that had to go along a wall, over a door, under the floor or through walls; cable that needed to be installed expensively; cable that had to be ripped up and re-installed whenever you moved desk or office. However, there is now an alternative to this costly permanent network: Wi-Fi.

Wi-Fi is a form of wireless networking that uses radio waves to connect computers together rather than cables. It isn’t new but it used to be prohibitively priced, painfully slow and compatibility was poor – you couldn’t mix and match kit from different vendors. Enter a new wireless network standard: IEEE 802.11b. This offered much faster transfer speeds and solved the bugbear of poor inter-operability. However, IEEE 802.11b was hardly a catchy name and so the technology was re-christened Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi has taken the business world by storm, showing up in US hotels, airports, internet cafes and Starbucks coffee shops. It’s even infiltrating small offices and homes.

Why use Wi-Fi?

Virtually all local area networks (LANs) use traditional cabling to link computers together, but this isn’t always the best solution; sometimes wireless LANs can be a better choice as they offer a number of unique advantages. For example, among small- to medium-sized networks, wireless LANs can be installed without calling on the services of a large, on-site support staff. Moreover, adding an extra computer to the network often means more expensive and bothersome cabling work; not so with Wi-Fi.

Another consideration is businesses occupying rented premises. They may be reluctant to invest in fixed cabling for obvious reasons. Here, wireless LANs represent a one-off investment that can be carried from site to site without incurring any major installation costs. Moving people around or adding new network points won’t involve building work. Some companies often occupy older premises that were never designed to accommodate cabling without major expense and these, too, lend themselves to a wireless-based solution. The same applies to historic or listed buildings, which can’t be altered without permission. Or maybe you’ve got premises that are awkward to cable up? Why run unsightly cables across floors, up solid walls or across the car park to your other office? In many instances, wireless is a cheaper option than cabling.

By their very nature wireless LANs can be quickly and easily deployed, disassembled or re-configured. And if you have staff that need notebooks, because they need to travel a lot, having a cable-free network connection is a major convenience. The ease with which network installation and modification can be done using wireless LANs makes temporary network installations feasible for things such as ad hoc workgroups or for dedicated projects. They are perfect for factory or warehouse environments. Wireless LANs also offer the fabled 'ubiquitous connectivity' at a low cost, perhaps reducing the need for normal network cabling to as little as 1 point per 10,000 ft².