InformationWeek

June 7, 1999

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Wireless Networking

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Network Computing Lucent's Lightning-Speed Wireless Card

Bay Networks
Bay Networks offers two product lines, the 650 and 660. The 650 is a frequency-hopping system, and the 660 is direct sequence. I received the Bay Networks BayStack 660 Wireless PC Card and access point. The 660 access point is a relatively small unit with both 10BaseT and coaxial (10Base2) connectors. Rather than having a built-in radio interface, it uses the same PC Card as portable computers. This allows a relatively inexpensive upgrade to 802.11 fast rate when it's available. The 660 devices are rated at up to 300 feet in enclosed places or up to 2,000 feet in open areas.

The documentation for the Bay Networks products was supplied only on CD-ROM, other than a short booklet that didn't even have much quick-start information. The documentation is clear, thorough, and complete, but like many administrators, I prefer printed documentation. You never know whether you'll have a system with Adobe Acrobat on it around when you need it, and installing Acrobat from the CD and then reading the documentation takes a lot longer than digging out the manual. You can print the Acrobat files, but it's a cumbersome process at best.

As with the other products, installation was very simple and went smoothly. The BayStack manager has more stringent requirements (version 4.0 or higher of Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer, Java Runtime Engine 1.1.4 or higher), but has a nice GUI interface and can automatically discover access points, eliminating the necessity for configuration via a serial interface.

Lucent
The Lucent WaveLAN has a number of intriguing features. The access point has two PC Card slots, and uses the same PC Cards as portables. This is also true of the Bay Networks access point, but the Lucent device, with two cards, can support both a standard 802.11 card and a fast-rate card, allowing an easier migration to the higher data rates, or allowing both to be supported if some systems need faster rates than others. Alternatively, it can support two separate overlapping networks. Each of the two radio cards can support approximately 100 users.

The PC Cards have an antenna that is slightly larger than the Aironet and BayStack cards, though it does support a longer range and also supports an optional extended-range external antenna, which extends the range by about 15%, from 550 feet at 2 Mbps to 630 feet. The cards can also be set to attach to any available access point or to a specific one.

The WaveManager/Client tool is installed in a notebook computer with a WaveLAN PC Card. It can visually show all the access points within reach of the mobile station and the quality of the links between the mobile station and each of the access points. It can monitor several access points simultaneously, reducing the time required to perform a site survey for determining the placement of access points, and it can also be used to perform post-installation verification of full building coverage. A log function makes monitoring over a longer period of time more convenient.

RadioLAN
RadioLAN uses a proprietary protocol running at 5.8 GHz, rather than the 802.11 standard of 2.4 GHz used by the other products. This means that it can't be upgraded to 802.11 fast rate. However, it has the advantage of about a year of refinement at the 11-Mbps data rate.

I received two different PC Cards, models 130 and 140, as well as the model 208 BackboneLink access point. The CardLink 130 uses a fairly large separate antenna module, and the MobileLink 140 uses a much smaller attached antenna. They both offer the same 120-foot range, but the 140 is more expensive. The access unit uses the same antenna as the model 130 PC Card, easing inventory headaches.

The CardLink's separate antenna is intended to be mounted on the back of a portable, using either a permanent mount or a Velcro mount. The antenna and the cable to the PC Card can be cumbersome. The 140 has a smaller attached antenna that is hinged so it can lay flat when not in the portable. The antenna is raised to a 90-degree angle when it's in use. It is much less cumbersome, although still bulkier than the slower 802.11 units.

The access point can be configured through Ethernet, using a PC and a configuration utility or via the wireless network, in addition to the usual serial terminal connection. Many administrators will appreciate not needing to dig up a serial cable and get the serial terminal to work before being able to configure the access points.

The access points include Web software for updates, which allows upgrading all access points via flash technology.