InformationWeek

Lucent's WaveLAN/IEEE Turbo system can automatically shift between standards-based 2-Mbps wireless data transmission and a 10-Mbps data rate based on proprietary technology. The system provides PC Cards for notebook computers and receivers, or access points, and ISA cards for desktop PCs; the cards adjust speed as the computers are moved in and out of areas capable of supporting higher or lower connection rates.

The Lucent system operates at four speeds over varying distances, including 10 Mbps at 130 to 400 feet, 5 Mbps at 180 to 650 feet, 2 Mbps at 300 to 1,300 feet, and 1 Mbps at 375 to 1,800 feet.

A notebook computer in a warehouse, for example, may get only a 1-Mbps network connection but be able to operate at 1,800 feet. The same notebook in an office building would see the data rate automatically ramp up to as fast as 10 Mbps if it remained within 400 feet of an access point.

Wireless LANs have been slow to catch on in enterprises for many reasons, analysts say. "For a long time, wireless LANs were viewed as slow, not based on standards, and expensive," says Craig Mathias, a principal at FarPoint Consulting Inc. But systems such as Lucent's that operate at both 2 Mbps and 10 Mbps Ethernet speeds could make wireless LANs a more attractive alternative to wired network infrastructures, he says.

Lucent has reduced the price of its WaveLAN/IEEE PC Cards from $495 to $295, but analysts say costs have not fallen enough. "The price point is nowhere near where it needs to be," says Charles Rutstein, an analyst at Forrester Research Inc. "Even if vendors drove the price point down to the point of wired networking equipment, you would not get the same bandwidth levels."