Wi-Fi unplugged: A buyer's guide for small businesses

By Christopher Elliott

Which flavor of Wi-Fi is right for your business?

That used to be an easy question to answer.

A few years ago, there were only a few letters in the wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) or wireless LAN alphabet. The earliest and still most commonly-used standard is 802.11b. There is also 802.11a, and the newfangled 802.11g. Now, it seems that there are so many types of Wi-Fi that they may someday run out of letters.

While the question of what to choose may be difficult to answer, it is important for you to address it. A 2005 survey by the research firm, In-Stat, found that the vast majority of companies (91%) now use wireless data somewhere in their company, either on a limited or a widespread basis.

So what is wireless networking — and why is it important to your small business? Basically, IEEE 802.11, or Wi-Fi, uses radio waves to carry high-speed data to and from an access point that connects to cables. For more information on the latest developments in 802.11 standards, check out the Wi-Fi Alliance site .

Wireless networking can be critical to your business because it can measurably boost productivity — whether you're tracking inventory or meeting with customers. A wireless office is more flexible, scalable, and yes, often better than a wired office.

But what kind of wireless should you use?

802.11 or something else?

As you look at the myriad of wireless protocols, you might run across the new WiMAX, (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) or IEEE 802.16 standard. It promises faster connection rates of up to 70 megabits (Mbps) per second, and a vastly larger coverage area of about 30 miles. Although this sounds like a tremendous advantage over current Wi-Fi systems, which are slower and have a shorter range, it's important to weigh the expense of WiMAX (plus the fact that it's still an emerging standard) in a purchasing decision. In fact, WiMAX is largely geared to commercial carriers for long-distance, point-to-point transmissions — not for small businesses.

At the moment, when it comes to wireless, the safest for your company continues to be Wi-Fi.

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What kind of 802.11 is right for my business?

As I already mentioned, there are several varieties of Wi-Fi. At least one of them will work well for your company. But which one? Here's a rundown of choices.

What about the other letters? Don't worry about them. These additional standards are, for lack of a better term, not major developments. For example, 802.11d is a specification that allows for configuration to comply with the rules of the country in which the network is to be used; 802.11e adds multimedia support to Wireless-b, g and networks; and 802.11i adds advanced encryption standards and improves key management.

"Among the alphabet soup of wireless protocols, 802.11g offers consumers a safe, widely-used standard that is backward compatible and ensures support for the broadest range of devices on the market," says Scot Zarkiewicz, president and chief executive of SingleClick Systems, a wireless and home networking software provider.

Focus on the big letters — a, b, g and possibly, n — and you can't go wrong.

Christopher Elliott
Christopher Elliott writes about business travel and mobile computing, and publishes a weekly travel newsletter . You can e-mail him or visit his Web site .


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