Introduction

In the time span of just a few years, wireless local area networking went from being a novelty to revolutionizing the way many organizations connect their computers. Visit any major department store, hospital, or office building, and you will encounter 802.11 cards in all of the PCs and access points hanging from the ceiling. The speed with which wireless networking has caught on is not surprising, as 802.11b offers up to 11Mbps of bandwidth, and a range of several hundred feet. Newer standards, such as 802.11g, promise five times the speed. Multiple wireless access points can be easily installed on the same network to increase the coverage area, so that an entire building can be easily connected. Conversely, wiring buildings with Ethernet is expensive and limits the locations from which networked computers can be used.