ZyXEL Communications VANTAGE RADIUS 50 User Manual page 129

A wireless LAN (WLAN) provides a flexible data communications system that you can use to
access various services (navigating the Internet, email, printer services, etc.) without the use of a
cabled connection. In effect a wireless LAN environment provides you the freedom to stay
connected to the network while roaming around in the coverage area. WLAN is not available on
all models.
Benefits of a Wireless LAN
Wireless LAN offers the following benefits:
1. It provides you with access to network services in areas otherwise hard or expensive to wire,
such as historical buildings, buildings with asbestos materials and classrooms.
2. It provides healthcare workers like doctors and nurses access to a complete patient's profile
on a handheld or notebook computer upon entering a patient's room.
3. It allows flexible workgroups a lower total cost of ownership for workspaces that are
frequently reconfigured.
4. It allows conference room users access to the network as they move from meeting to meeting,
getting up-to-date access to information and the ability to communicate decisions while "on
the go".
5. It provides campus-wide networking mobility, allowing enterprises the roaming capability to
set up easy-to-use wireless networks that cover the entire campus transparently.
IEEE 802.11
The 1997 completion of the IEEE 802.11 standard for wireless LANs (WLANs) was a first
important step in the evolutionary development of wireless networking technologies. The
Wireless LAN and IEEE 802.11
Wireless LAN and IEEE 802.11
Vantage RADIUS User's Guide
Appendix E
E-1