Chapter 9 - Designing a Wireless Home Network: Home Office Case Study

Abstract

This chapter presents a home office case study and explores the possibilities of a wireless home network. It explains the potential benefits and the options available for the type of home network that will meet the needs and budget. The case study illustrates the design of a simple home network intended for Jan, a home-office user. Under doctor's orders for more bed rest, Jan received authorization from her employer to work from home during and immediately after her pregnancy. Jan has an existing PC with broadband access that is for family use only, and is located far from the home office. Jan's challenge is that she needs reliable high-speed access to the corporate local area network (LAN) from the new home office and other convenient locations in the house. Jan started designing her wireless home network by determining the requirements, analyzing the existing environment, creating a preliminary design, developing a detailed design, and finally, implementing the network. As a part of these processes, Jan learnt more about the strengths and weaknesses of wireless networks, and about the costs and advantages of different vendor solutions. Wireless offers mobility and is available in locations where a wired outlet doesn't exist. The disadvantages of wireless include some minor interference problems and a quickly evolving and competitive group of standards.