For organizations of many kinds, 802.11 b finally makes wireless networking fast (enough), cost-effective

BY HERB BETHONEY, PC WEEK LABS

AS PC WEEK LABS EVALUATION AT THE S.C. Johnson School of Management at Cornell University shows that wireless technology is finally ready for prime time—for a price that won’t bleed companies dry.

The management school needs more space for students to work in teams of four to six for course projects. The Technology Services Department determined that the cost of adding extra network ports in common areas would be prohibitive—upward of $1,000 per port—and the project was put on hold.

When the IEEE approved its 802.llb standard protocol for 11M-bps wireless LAN connectivity and equipment became available earlier this year, Kevin Baradet, network systems director for the management school and a PC Week Corporate Partner, decided the time was right to explore a wireless solution for the under- used spaces of the school.

“Our graduate students work in teams on several projects a year and increasingly needed more space to meet and share information,” Baradet said. “The Johnson Management School is housed in a beautiful historic building, and the cost of adding more space onto the building was out of :he question. We looked at making use of underutilized spaces—such as the atrium, dining room and breakout rooms— and wireless LAN technology was the only option that made sense.”

This PC Week Labs val explores 802.llb wireless networking solutions for departments an large organizations and examines how I’] managers can use wireless LANs to complement their wired networks.

Wireless access to an Ethernet LAN a critical issue for many organizations, a fact borne out by the number of PC Week Corporate Partners (and the diversity of their companies) who signed on for this eval a Cornell. In addition to Baradet, the team comprised Kevin Wilson, of Duke Energy Corp.; Erich Berman, of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co.; and Rusty Smith an associate of Corporate Partner coordinator and University of Wisconsin Advanced Technology Analyst Judy Brown. (See story, Page 66.)

The eval team tested 802.llb wireless solutions from 3Com Corp., Cisco Systems Inc. and Lucent Technologies Inc. The eval was performed on-site at Cornell, in Ithaca, N.Y., and one solution was tested per day.

Each of the tested 802.llb-compliant solutions consisted of access points, essentially wireless transceivers that connect directly to an Ethernet LAN via a built-in Ethernet port, and wireless PC Cards, which allow a mobile user equipped with a notebook to connect to an access point. The access point then admits the user to the wired LAN.

eval tests included site surveys, installation and configuration of access points and client PC Cards, interoperability tests, load testing, measurement of upload and download performance over predetermined distances, measurement of stream- ing media performance, and administration tool analysis (see reviews, below).

All of the systems performed well. They all adhere closely to the 802.llb standard and are more alike than they are different. But there are some important differences, particularly in the software tools used to configure and manage the access points.

Cisco and Lucent have encryption (up to 128-bit Wireless Equivalent Privacy), sufficient for all but the most security-conscious sites. 3Com plans to add WEP encryption as a firmware upgrade this month.

All of the judges agreed that Lucent’s Orinoco solution stood head and shoulders above Cisco’s Aironet 340 Series system and 3Com’s AirConnect line and should be the first place to start when considering an 802.llb wireless LAN system.

Lucent’s Orinoco 802.llb line is well-suited for everything from small offices to corporate departments to building-to-building connectivity.

The Lucent solution also allows companies to start small and grow their wireless implementations.

“All of the products we tested stack up pretty well against each other, and all of them adhere to the 802.llb standard, so it doesn’t matter too much which vendor you pick if you’re going to be changing vendors from time to time,” Baradet said. “If you’re going to stick with one vendor, though, and you’re concerned with upgradability, go with Lucent.”

PC WEEK APRIL 17, 2000 http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/webcast/