Mobility is no longer a barrier to productivity and efficiency but now provides a true competitive advantage. Accessing real-time data whilst at a customer site, whilst travelling or whilst working outside of normal office hours now allows a more flexible and efficient approach to business processes.
Wireless networking technology, fuelled by the emergence of cross-vendor industry standards such as IEEE 802.11, has produced a number of affordable solutions that are fast becoming a realistic business benefit for all types of industries where the installation of network cabling is not practical.
802.11. A group of specifications, developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), for wireless networks that are used to manage packet traffic over a network and ensure that packets do not collide – which could result in loss of data – while travelling from their point of origin to their destination. These are: 802.11, 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g. Each access point typically covers 50-100 metres of open space with current specs for 1, 2, 11 and 54 Mbps. It is intended to provide for interoperability of wireless LAN products from different manufacturers. For security and privacy, 802.11 accommodates the use of Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), a wireless authentication protocol based on I.D. keys and bit-encryption.
Benefits for the organisation:
Temporary wireless networks can be easily set up for temporary office facilities, exhibitions and events.
Benefits for the user: