Re: Wireless LANs

["Paul Gordon" <paul_gordon@xxxxxxx>]

>
>Cough! Choke!
>
>I've been running a couple of Access Points and several PCMCIA and PCI
>802.11b cards at home for ages, with no problems. Mind you, fortunately
I
>work for a company that makes them, so I don't have to fork over that
much
>dough. Even so, I'd be surprised if our AP costs anywhere near that
much.
>It
>should be shortly available in the UK from BT business services (it's
>called
>a TransPort and is part of the Airway product range).


I just grabbed an Inmac catalogue off the shelf and had a look in there...

Actually, there IS another make in there as well:- buffalo (as in
"stick
THAT in yer mouth and say buffalo"!!), that have various access points
(DSL/Cable/Ethernet/modem) for around the £220 mark, which is much more
reasonable. (but still double the cost of the Netear kit). Thing is of
course, who the hell are Buffalo anyway?


>
>As Paul says, some 802.11b MACs work in point-to-point. That's called
>"AdHoc"
>networking in 802.11b-speak. But beware! A lot of cards out there don't
>support AdHoc mode.
>
>If you run your 802.11b within earshot of any Bluetooth devices then be
>prepared for major throughput degradation - Bluetooth is going to stomp
all
>over your 802.11b with impunity. Bluetooth devices are ubiquitous now,
>aren't
>they? ;)
>

ROTFL!!

The point is of course, that we are talking about use in a home environment
here aren't we. - Where we have total control over whats installed in our
own premises (let's not worry about next-door neighbours just yet!), so we
should be able to make the choice between 802.11b OR bluetooth, and use
whichever technology best fits the application.... (well, in theory
anyway!)

Paul G.

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