Walk into any office nowadays and what do you see? Or, more to the point, what don’t you see? Wires. Computers, printers, keyboards, mice, even display monitors are capable of operating wirelessly. Wireless technology has matured to the point of ubiquity, but that’s not to say it’s perfect. Several considerations should be explored when implementing wireless solutions.
Clearly, the most popular wireless solution involves data networks. Wireless networks have been around for well more than a decade. Originally used primarily in temporary locations or for specialized situations, wireless networks are used by many organizations as the primary infrastructure.
What about interference? While many improvements have been made in the technology, there is still a possibility of interference from devices such as microwave ovens, cordless phones, wireless video cameras, outdoor microwave links, wireless game controllers and even fluorescent lights or bad electrical connections. The good news is that the technology has evolved to a point to operate even with interference, albeit at a degraded state.
For large scale, operation-dependent wireless networks, we recommend a site survey. A variety of tools can be used to detect both signal strength as well as interference. If your organization is going to be highly dependent upon the wireless network, an experienced professional should be consulted.
When designing and implementing a wireless network, it is often a good idea to include a “guest network.” This allows access to resources such as the Internet or printers, while securing access to your critical data assets. Guest networks are often employed to support visitors, or even personnel who do not need access to the more sensitive parts of your network.
With respect to wireless components, such as keyboards or mice, we recommend Bluetooth-based devices over infrared or radio frequency. Bluetooth is a more advanced technology and does not require line-of-sight. Interference between Bluetooth and standard wireless networks is a concern, but much less so today. Manufacturers of both Bluetooth and wireless network devices understand that they must coexist with each other due to the popularity of both technologies.
Security of wireless networks is still a concern. While employment of standard practices such as encryption, address filtering and strong passwords helps, a wireless network can still be compromised. The fact of the matter is that the security technologies used in wireless networks are not yet mature enough to be proven to be secure. Can any Joe Schmoe off the street hack a properly secured wireless network? No. But a driven geek with an ax to grind can probably access many wireless networks today.
There have been far less reports of Bluetooth devices being truly “hacked.” Most often, Bluetooth technology is compromised by lack of attention to standard security practices. Many are concerned, however, that Bluetooth will be the next favorite target of hackers.
John Agsalud is an IT expert with more than 20 years of information technology experience. Reach him at johnagsalud@yahoo.com.
