Anyone who has used the Wi-Fi technology to browse through the internet at airports, railway stations, cafes, shopping malls, hotels, etc would have realised how convenient it is to connect to the internet without any wires. However, have you tried to understand how exactly this connectivity without wires works?

A network is a word which usually has wide implications. Any device or component used to connect to the server and establish an internet connection can be termed as a network. Such a connection enables a user to send and receive files, share information, resources, hardware, software, etc. there are two different types of networks available, namely wired and wireless networks. Both of their own merits and demerits, but on the basic comparison, it becomes clear that wireless connection is more advantageous than wired connections.

The basic difference between a wired network and wireless network resides in the fact that the latter setup does not require any wires to connect the device to the server, thus making the whole experience a virtual one. It makes use of electromagnetic waves to send information and this action is achieved in the physical layer of the OSI model. There are various standards, which are used to depict the wireless networks. The IEEE 802.11 is the standard version of wireless technology. This technology enables the user to connect to the internet without the use of any physical medium. This will definitely save you the hassle of numerous wires going in and out of your computer.

The benefits of a wireless network are many, and if you are a company and planning to make the usage of data portable, then a wireless network is your ultimate answer. A wireless network is less prone to system downtime, which is very much a case in the wired network. Wireless access to the internet at public places like the airport, railway station, library, college campus and hotels are a few other advantages of wireless networking. So shift your system and network card at ease and here your system is ready with full access to the network without any wired complications.

If you think from the installation and maintenance point of view, a wired network costs more when compared to a wireless network. It also means that the time utilised or spent in the installation and maintenance will be on the higher side too. Who wants to get in to this complexity and pay more for a wired network connection? Moreover, the chance of overall system downtime is much higher in case of a wired network. So an organisation, where profit is dependent on availability of data, wireless networking plays a crucial role.

The prices of the wireless router are certainly less than the total cost of an Ethernet wire. Though there is an active research going on the fact that usage of a wireless network may harm the health leading to memory loss and premature senility. However, advantages of a wireless network are at much higher value than the possible disadvantages.

It is the network of the future and hence if you are considering taking an internet connection and is worried about the options, it is time to go for a wireless connection.

URL: http://www.relevantarticles.com/2010/09/the-advantages-of-having-a-wireless-network.html

If you are new to the PC world and need to get more out of your personal computer experience by learning the way to build a wireless network in your home, then here are a couple of steps you will need to start. A wireless network is a network that utilises radio waves to speak through your house wireless router.

When we talk about radio waves we are talking about signals that broadcast from and to your router so you can view the web from anywhere in your house without a wire. In a home network signal travel thru your wire line, tiny satellite dish or telephone line from your net service provider thru your modem (switch), which is subsequently attached to your personal computer to offer you net access. Before wireless we hooked up to the web through a massive area network wire (LAN) from the back of our modem to our PC.

We also connected and some still use this technique today, to the Net thru dial-up, which naturally is the least expensive method of connecting to the Net. Dial-up is the strategy by which you plug your telephone line straight into your personal computer and connect to the Net thru an ISP like AOL. Whichever strategy you use, the major drawback with employing a wired network is that you PC or laptop PC must remain in the same location the wire is found for you to attach to the web unless you get smart and get a ten foot cable or telephone line, which in this example will bring about a gigantic mess in your house. With a wireless network, it isn’t messy at all as you connect to web thru radio waves that are broadcast through your house from your router.

To build a wireless network, all that you need is net service in your house, a wireless router, a modem from your ISP, wireless LAN cards for every further PC or laptop PC in your house. If you have got a laptop PC, then the wireless LAN cards look like cards and for wireless LAN cards for your PC, they’re card like with an antenna sticking out of them. Now that you’ve got your clobber, the very first thing you do is connect your PC to the router and the modem to the router, Before, your modem was connected right to the PC, but to do wireless, everything will have to connect to the router. The modem will be hooked up to the web port on the router and the PC will be hooked up to one of the ports on the router apart from the Net port usually port one.

If you want help in setting up the router as you are going to need to make some insignificant adjustments with your router like closing off your port so you aren’t providing web access to everybody in the area. Your router features a manual that shows you the easiest way to set-up the router for your wireless network so follow the steps given in the instruction book. After your base PC is set and you’re able to surf the web thru your wireless router from the base PC, then you’re now prepared to add further PCs or computers to your wireless network. To confirm that you have close the port so that only the people in your house will have access, each laptop PC added to the wireless network will be inspired to go into the secure password before they’re granted access.

After the password is entered, they’re prepared to start browsing the internet. That’s all there is to it and you are going to adore it as now you can wander from room to room with your portable browsing the net whenever you go in your house and if you’re in areas where you cannot get a signal then you might like to invest in a long range wireless router.

URL: http://www.relevantarticles.com/2010/09/how-to-implement-a-wireless-network.html

The network connectivity has been changing over the past few decades. With corporates growing fast, it is becoming important to connect various branches to ensure better integration in the operations. This is putting more stress on the service providers to build infrastructure which meet these demands. This is where Virtual Private LAN Services – VPLS networks become so important and useful.

Traditionally, most organisations have a single head office and a handful of smaller offices scattered around. The primary aim of inter-branch connectivity was to connect all smaller branches to the head office. As the networks grew, the number of branches grew, but the topology remains a hub and spoke kind of solution.

However, the business priorities are now changing and remote offices are not just work places feeding from the head office anymore. Many remote branches are quite big and prominent and have special services that they offer to the company. So now many enterprises have their information and work distributed across multiple branches rather than concentrated at the head office. This really pushes the network connectivity demands further to have a mesh like network for the organisation to perform successfully.

The most successful technology that has lent itself to the multipoint requirements has been the LAN networks. They are very common and popular in almost all the offices today. LANs are scalable, flexible and can adapt to growing demands of connectivity better. As a result, even when it comes to connecting inter branches, corporates prefer to emulate LAN networks.

The service provider answer for this LAN like solution requirement is this. This technology typically terminates as a LAN connection on the customer equipment and interfaces to the network over a provider edge router. This solution leverages the IP/MPLS networks in the service provider backbone to provider 1 to 10 Gbps multipoint connections to different branch offices. For the service provider the existing IP/MPLS network can be reused which is a big plus in providing the service.

In this type of architecture, the provider edge (PE) router looks up the VLAN of the packet and tags it with the respective virtual circuit details. The packet is then passed through the core networks over LSP tunnels to reach the destination PE router which forwards the packet to the customer equipment within the enterprise LAN.

Thus it is clear that this allows multiple LANs to be connected over service provider clouds. In the past this was achieved with WAN solutions. The WAN links between offices used to connect the branches. However, WAN links were much slower than the faster LAN links.

Over the years, there has been an increasing need to expand LAN coverage areas to longer distances due to the obvious benefits over the slower WAN technologies. VPLS is a striking example of the success of such endeavors. Through this solution, services providers can provide LAN connectivity between various branches for enterprises.

URL: http://www.relevantarticles.com/2010/09/necessary-information-about-virtual-private-lan-services-vpls.html