Comment: WLANs show upward mobility

Not every firm either wants or needs to add wireless subnets to their existing network infrastructure, but IT managers already supporting large numbers of highly mobile PC and handheld users may find wireless LANs (WLANs) easier to administer than wired links.

And for the average user, the cable-free office, so long a distant fantasy, is finally looking almost realistic, with WLANs replacing Ethernet links, and Bluetooth replacing the I/O connections that connect peripherals to the PC.

Mobile workers may not yet appreciate the ability to log into the company network from the canteen or the smoking room, but the potential to go online to check email and browse the Internet via public-access WLANs installed in airports, railway stations and hotels may attract them.

WLANs have been around since the mid 1990s, but only since the emergence of faster, more robust equipment after ratification of the IEEE's 802.11b standard have they become a serious option for corporate networks.

Analysts are predicting that the amount of WLAN equipment sold to enterprise buyers over the next few years will soar.

With new standards set to increase bandwidth, scalability and data security, reduce signal interference from other electronic equipment, and enable the delivery of voice and video applications over wireless links, those predictions may be right.

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