Why would a person or organization be interested in deploying wireless communication in their home or business? Given the variety of reasons (and the fact that businesses must consider problems that may not face the average home user), let’s focus on the most common reason for both groups: flexibility.

For home users, this means they have the ability to download files, check e-mails, or watch streaming videos from anywhere within their home without the burden of running CAT 5e UTP (unshielded, twisted pair) cable to every room with jacks six feet apart. As far as businesses are concerned, flexibility means the ability of employees to take their “desktop” with them and connect to the network resources they need to get their job done.

This being said, there are some things to think about before jumping into the wireless world. As is usually the case in the wonderful world of networking, whenever one thing becomes simpler, it almost always complicates something else. In this case, security and connectivity are going to be our main concerns.