Wireless MANs: The
Sky’s The Limit
by Edwin E. Mier
Published August 2001
Abstract:
Welcome to the wide world of wireless. Many enterprise network managers know their way around when it comes to cabling LANs and linking sites via terrestrial carrier circuits. But wireless represents an alternative—and one that, our hands-on testing concludes, is not only viable, but may even be preferable.
Our focus was on wireless network links that span modest campus and metropolitan-area distances—up to several kilometers. The longest distance we tested was 3.4 km (about 2.1 miles). That turns out to be the unobstructed distance between the rooftop of our main lab building and a nearby, 130-foot-high tower. We also tested over a "short" course, of exactly 1 km—about two-thirds of a mile.
The seven products we tested represent three very different classes of wireless links:
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"Optical" wireless links—Canon USA Inc.'s Canobeam III/DT-50 and fSONA Communications Corp.'s SONA beam 155-M TM |
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High-speed, multi-link RF—Proxim Inc.'s Stratum 100 and Western Multiplex Corp.'s Tsunami 100 Wireless Ethernet Bridge |
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Low-speed, adapted-multipoint RF—OTC Wireless Inc.'s AirEZY2411 BRG, Proxim's Stratum MP and Wi-LAN Inc.'s AWE 120-24 Advanced Wireless Ethernet bridge. |
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