The product you are referring to is from the Solectek Corporation. I
have dealt with Solectek (but never used their products as of YET -- but
plan to in the hear future). Their solution is more geared toward
smaller (2-10) connect points. Because of the bandwidth involved in 55-60
locations, I don't think that it would be very efficient to setup a
wireless network. Your best bet would be with FDDI fiber. With the
small distance of 15 mi. I think this would not be too costly considering
the increased bandwidth of the sites.
: networking their entire district. The district has 55 to 60 locations,
: 27,000 students, with a diameter of approximately 15 miles across. It is
: their intention to provide full Internet support as well as full
: administrative computing support.
: Some questions I have are:
: 1. The community has a population of 180,000 (not large but not small).
: With the growth of cellular communications will there be a problem with
: interference?
The AirLAN from Solectek doesn't have any problem because it will use
what ever frequency that has been set aside by the FCC for wireless data
communications and not cellular communications.
: 2. Is this mode more susceptible to eavesdropping and more of a data
: security risk (for administrative processing) than fiber?
I would say extremly more, because the person would have to have a
connection to your fiber WAN to get into your data stream. However, DES
encryption modules are available for Solectek products.
: 3. Are there costs to be incurred at each location that are significantly
: different from those with fiber?
Up front probably a little cheaper, but with the 100MBs that Fiber can
provide you and not to menchion other services that can offer, video,
etc., would be tremendous advantages with a network of your capacity.
: I realize that there is a growing development of wireless communications
: but I am not sure what the issues are or should be. I'm not sure just what
: questions should be raised! Any comments, questions, experineces would be
: greatly appreciated.
Darrell Kristof
-- +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Darrell Kristof, CNA Networking/Software Consultant | | DRAKE/Novell Certified NetWare Administrator | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ "...of course that's my opinion ...I could be wrong!" -- Dennis Miller