Wading into Wireless Most IT experts agree that some day in the near future, wireless networks will cut-free all office PCs, eclipsing traditional wired network connections in speed, cost and security. That day is coming, but not quite yet. Although wireless PC network connections have come a long way in the past few years, offering incredible freedom, flexibility and comparable speed, it is not yet time to “unwire” the entire office. Due to the increased management, slightly slower speed, and higher cost, it is presently neither economical nor beneficial to setup an entire office with wireless networked PCs. However, wireless network connections are fantastic for small group situations, such as board rooms, conference rooms, executive offices, or small groups of mobile laptop users. The main concern with wireless office connections is security. Anyone considering wireless in a business network environment must understand clearly the security risks involved, and how to properly deal with them. The latest wireless equipment provides strong mechanisms to combat the two major security concerns. Any equipment purchased for use in a company network, MUST include these security features. The first security concern when going wireless, transmitting your network traffic into space, is others connecting to your network from nearby without your knowledge. With early wireless products there were numerous reports of people tapping into other company networks from adjoining buildings or even cars parked outside. This can be secured by using a wireless base station capable of blocking connections except from authorized wireless PC adapters. Unfortunately this security measures also increases the management required to add and remove authorized adapters. The second major security risk comes from others able to monitor or read your network traffic using a receiver within range of the office. By placing a signal monitor within range, a potential attacker can view the data stream passing between the PC and base station. This data stream can be “analyzed” to read data, usernames, passwords and other private information. To combat monitoring, many new wireless receivers and PC interface cards now include the capability to encrypt and decrypt data passing between the PC and base station. This emerging standard, WEP (Wireless Encryption Protocol), uses an easily programmable text key to apply 40-bit or 128-bit encryption to the data transmission. Requiring encryption for all wireless connections can also block unwanted connections, since the base-station requires the PC to have the correct text key in order to establish an encrypted connection. Any office considering wireless should ensure that their wireless base stations and PC adapters are capable of WEP, and that encryption is setup properly. Of course, there is a slight speed loss with all this mathematical wizardry. Here are few basic tips to getting the most out of wireless network connections in the office. Ensure your wireless equipment supports data encryption, and it is setup properly, to avoid having your data traffic “read” by others outside the office. Implement hardware, MAC address, blocking to make certain only authorized wireless adapters are able to connect to you network. Wireless network points should be planned carefully to provide the most freedom of movement with the least loss of signal. Keep wireless connection areas within the office restricted to specific enclosed spaces and plan the location of the receivers so that a strong signal can be achieved from anywhere in the room. Don’t expect wireless connections to work well through walls, windows and other major obstructions. Plan the wireless receivers so all users can receive a signal as unobstructed as possible. Be aware of the interference that can sometimes be caused by other high-power electric appliances such as microwave ovens, laser printers, scanners and photocopiers. Consider the number of channels supported by each wireless station. The number of channels limits the number of PCs that can connect to a single wireless network base station simultaneously. Most commercially available wireless access stations have less than 6 channels.