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Wireless LANs for Small and Medium
size business
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When to consider a wireless
LAN
For SMBs that require local networks for shared printers, Internet
access, e-mail, or database access, a wireless LAN offers a
lower-cost alternative to installing a new wired network. The two
scenarios most conducive to wireless LAN deployment are:
 | Requirements to connect an office to a network or add
networking capacity within an office of fewer than 100
employees.
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| A need to complement a network infrastructure that is outdated
or at capacity. |
Wireless LAN implementation costs and TCO
Findings from a recent Gartner study indicate that the TCO of a
wireless LAN can be less than the TCO of a wired system, including
the elimination of costs to set up a full wired LAN. True costs will
depend on the size and use of the implementation. Basic wired
systems can be expensive, because running Ethernet to each user is
time-consuming and costly. Costs increase even more in enterprises
marked by high turnover and frequent employee office moves.
The first year of a wireless LAN deployment carries some of the
heaviest costs due to a large technology investment in necessary
equipment, such as access points and NICs, and added infrastructure
for power, hubs and switches, cabling, and spare parts.
For smaller (and temporary) offices, wireless LAN systems will
reduce the costs of putting a group of users together on a network,
eliminating much of the wired LAN costs (for example, pulling cable
and setting up workstation ports). The major costs of support for
small-office systems will be high, although they will be outweighed
by end-user operation costs for peer support and self-support. Such
support costs add to a total cost of $4,732 in the first year (see Figure
B).
| Figure B |
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Advice for SMBs considering wireless LAN
technology
| Prepare to support the technology. According to a
recent survey of midsize enterprises, supporting wireless
technologies was not high on the list of skills to be acquired
during the forthcoming year. Because wireless skills aren’t
prevalent in many SMBs, they must alter their staffing and
training plans to accommodate ongoing maintenance support of
wireless LAN technology. However, even with the need to hire
extra support skills, networking via a wireless LAN can offer
SMBs lower networking TCO. |
| Research best practices. SMBs should solicit their
peers to identify the lessons they learned when implementing a
wireless LAN. |
| Consider expert help. SMBs can ensure that their
wireless LAN implementations go smoothly by contracting
professional service firms or value-added resellers that have
wireless LAN experience among enterprises with similar
characteristics (size, number of office locations, or number of
employees). |
| Realize the true TCO in network management. SMBs should
examine the TCO of maintaining their current network and
consider what these costs would be with a migration to wireless
LAN technology vs. retaining a wired LAN. Include acquisition
costs, opportunity costs associated with reliability and
convenience, and ongoing support costs. |
Cautionary steps
| Look for a “seal of approval” on Wi-Fi products.
The Wireless Ethernet
Compatibility Alliance (WECA) certification should be on
Wi-Fi products to ensure that they’ve been tested for vendor
interoperability for NICs and access points. |
| Secure your wireless LAN. SMBs should consider ways to
protect their wireless LAN implementations from tampering.
Security options include using virtual private network clients,
wireless gateways, or proprietary wireless security provided by
the major vendors, such as Cisco's LAN Extensible Authentication
Protocol (LEAP) standard, which provides mutual authentication
between Cisco clients and authentication servers such as Remote
Authentication Dial-In User Service (RADIUS) for username and
password protection. |
Bottom line:
SMBs should look seriously at wireless LAN in place of a wired LAN
for small offices and temporary locations where it is too costly to
install a new wired system and in offices that do not have a LAN but
need one. SMBs should also secure their wireless LANs by adding on
extra network security options.
Gartner originally published this article
on May 1, 2002.
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