With the recent explosion of wireless LAN's you would be hard pressed to find somebody that hasn't heard of this new and emerging technology.

With Norcomm UK being a future thinking and forward moving company, we too realise the importance of wireless technology and the freedom it brings.

Norcomm UK were involved in a large wireless project back in 2001/02, for the, City of Manchester Education Action Zone (EAZ) where by we designed, implemented, and currently maintain a large scale LAN within 21 schools.

A wireless LAN can offer speeds of over 100Mbps to the connected device dependent on the distance from the access point and how many users there are.

Typical environments where wireless LAN's would be well deployed include:

• Mobile IT suites in Schools
• Hot Desking in sales offices
• Roaming coverage within a building
• Grade 2 buildings with limited cabling

A wireless LAN consists of 3 parts.

The first is a wireless access point. This provides the connecting point between the device and the network and visa versa.

The second is the structured cabling link that provides the physical connection on to the network medium for the access point. Without this there could be no actual network connection.

The third is the wireless adapter. This comes in several formats including:

• PCMCIA - For Laptop connectivity
• PCI - For Desktop connectivity
• Compact Flash - For PDA and Web book connectivity
• USB Key - For any USB enabled device

The adapter will provide the wireless connectivity to the Access Point.

All Norcomm UK wireless LAN's comply with the current 802.11a/b/g standards where required.

Infrared Applications

Infrared technology can be used in various circumstances. The most common is to connect two buildings together over a relatively short distance (1000M) where by a company has two premises and wants to share information and resources. The links can be used for voice, data or both. With link speeds ranging for 2Mbps for voice, all the way up to 1000Mbps for data, it is no wonder infrared technology is so widely used within the UK.

The links are capable of transmitting for up to 25Km with a signal quality of 99.8% even in fog.