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CostEffective IT: Wireless Networking
Cost-Effective
IT: Wireless Networking, by Richard Sonnier
Houston
Business Show "Advisor" Richard Sonnier, of the Information
Technology Services firm Nimble Services, Inc., provides weekly
information on our show about business technology issues. He can be
reached at 281-445-4800 x250 or rsonnier@nimbleservices.com.
This week I will discuss wireless networking.
Wireless Networking
One of the hottest technologies in IT today is wireless networking. It
is being offered by hundreds of vendors and in many flavors. Its main
advantage over wired networking is convenience and mobility similar to
the cell phone over the landline phone. It is very nice for a home
network or the temporary network. In theory a wireless network can be
setup quickly. Many wireless networking vendors claim a cost saving as
well, but the total cost of ownership of a wireless network is the same
as a wired network. Furthermore, wired networks perform much better
especially for more than a few computers.
Convenience Versus Performance
Without getting into all the technical details, a wired network runs at
100 mb/second and the best wireless network runs at 54 mb/second or
about half the speed. With its greater convenience you might think that
half the speed at the same price is still a good deal. However, there
is more to the story that wireless vendors don't tell you. If you have
10 computers on a wired network, the total capacity to 10x100
mb/second, but the same 10 computers on a wireless network would have a
total capacity of 54 mb/second. Wireless network performance goes down
as you add computers to the network. Thus, wireless is most
cost-effective for mobile applications with relatively low performance
needs.
Security
Wireless network security is bad unless extra money is spent to secure
it. Once you add in this additional cost for security, wireless
networks become more expensive than wired networks and still far less
secure. If you setup a wireless network in your home or office, it is
very likely people can steal access to it. Be aware that everything
sent over these wireless networks could be stolen like your email or
accounting data unless you take extra effort to secure it. Be careful
accessing your data from the local Starbuck's with its public wireless
access.
Recommendation
If you have more than 5 computers to network, go with the traditional
wired solution. For public areas or other places where wiring is
difficult, use wireless but make sure to secure it appropriately. For
your home go with wireless if trust your neighbors.
Next week, I will discuss emergency IT.
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