Wireless Networking

All parts concerned with a wireless network live here.  Wireless networks fall into one of several categories:

• wireless LAN (wireless local area network – IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax or “Wi-Fi” – usually limited to one building or site, within one organisation)
• wireless WAN (wireless wide area network – a network that may cover a whole county/state or country and be comprised of multiple smaller WMANs or WLANs)
• wireless MAN (wireless metropolitan area network – covering up to several square miles, multiple buildings spanning for example a campus or town)
• wireless PAN (wireless personal area network – Bluetooth, infrared – the interconnected devices of a single individual).

Wireless networks can offer a number of benefits over a wired network including :

• significant savings in terms of planning, the time to deply and the cost of cabling up a building, or complex of buildings
• easier/cheaper to expand the network and add new devices to the network
• ease with which visitors/customers can be granted access to a business’s network
• not limited by the number of physical connection ports (on a switch or router, for example)

but there are also a few disadvantages:

• slower file transfer speeds as well as slower overall network speeds (although has become less of an issue with each iteration)
• potential physical obstruction by objects in the environment, such as walls and floors/ceilings
• signals weaken as you move further away from the router or access point
• wireless networks are generally considered less secure than their wired equivalents

We have included in our listed wireless networking product range:

• Wireless routers
• Wireless hubs
• Wireless switches
• Wireless access points (AP)
• Wireless repeaters
• Wireless or “radio” NICs (Network Interface Card) – PCI/mini-PCI, PCI-E/mini PCI-E, PCMCIA, USB