[462] in Resnet-Forum
Re: Wireless networking in residence halls
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Pete Bronder)
Mon Feb 6 13:38:45 1995
Date: Mon, 6 Feb 1995 12:59:58 -0500 (EST)
From: Pete Bronder <pb0q+@andrew.cmu.edu>
To: resnet-forum@MIT.EDU, Gary Palmer <GPALMER@coe.edu>
Cc:
In-Reply-To: <sf35feea.057@coe.edu>
Gary,
At CMU here we are starting a wireless research project. For your
application you would have to install several "access points" which will
relay wireless info onto the wire. That implies installing enough
copper to build a backbone to tie in the access points. We are looking
at the following vendors: AT&T's Wavelan, Xircom and Proxim. The first
uses spread spectrum technology and the others use a direct sequencing
method. None of these reach the speed of a wired LAN. The products do
exist today but we are not aware of large scale installations to draw
experiences from. Depending on the product you might need more access
points which will vary in the amount of coverage. Depending on the
price of each access point you may spend more or less. You may find
dead spots in the building which will be revealed by doing some field
testing. These spots can be overcome by installing more access points.
All these products use PCMCIA adapters which places restrictions on the
computers you can support.
Pete
