Wireless Networking

WLAN-Radio

The benefits of wireless LAN's include:

Convenience: The wireless nature of such networks allows users to access network resources from nearly any convenient location within their working environment be it the home or office.
Mobility: With the emergence of public wireless networks, users can access the internet even outside their normal work environment. Most chain coffee shops, for example, offer their customers a wireless connection to the internet at little or no cost.
Deployment: Initial setup of an infrastructure-based wireless network requires little more than a single access point. It's largest benefit becomes evident when used in difficult to cable buildings.
Expandability: Wireless networks can serve a suddenly -increased number of clients with the existing equipment. In a wired network, additional clients would require additional wiring.

The disadvantages of wireless LAN's include:

Security: Due to the very nature of wireless networking, intrusions to the network can be attempted by users located off site which makes a wireless network a very attractive target for hackers.
Range: The typical range of a common 802.11g network with standard equipment is on the order of tens of meters. While sufficient for a typical home, it will be insufficient in a larger structure.
Reliability: Like any radio frequency transmission, wireless networking signals are subject to a wide variety of interference.
Speed: The speed on most wireless networks is typically 1-108 Mbit/s which is shared across the amount of users connected to the same wireless access point. This is drastically slower than wired and switched networks.