DSLC
07-18-2004, 06:32 PM
Hi, I am considering setting up a wireless LAN for our small retail store. There would be one computer in the office (Level 1), and one at the point of sale (Ground Level). I would quite likely be using a PDA as well for easy stock-taking, and maybe connecting a laptop in the office on occasion. There is actually a lower ground floor as well (with stock in it), so the network would need to cover three floors in total, with each floor about 30-35 metres square (off the top of my head).
I have never set up a wireless LAN before, and was infact just getting used to wired LANs when I realised that, if there is an alternative to getting yards of cables and drilling holes for them, we should consider it. I would just appreciate if someone could point me in the right direction, and alert me of potential problems. Would the area I mentioned above be just outside the bluetooth
range? If so, would I just add an access point? Should I use 802.11a or 802.11g cards?
A number of people have advised me against using wireless networks for our purpose (saying that they wouldn't be reliable enough), but I'm hoping you can assure me that their reliability is rock solid - even when installed by a newbie like me.
P.S. The POS and office computers will be running Linux, so everything will have to be Linux compatible. Our distribution comes with drivers for a number of wireless devices installed by
default, but I presume there are devices that run on Windows/Mac but not on Linux.
I have never set up a wireless LAN before, and was infact just getting used to wired LANs when I realised that, if there is an alternative to getting yards of cables and drilling holes for them, we should consider it. I would just appreciate if someone could point me in the right direction, and alert me of potential problems. Would the area I mentioned above be just outside the bluetooth
range? If so, would I just add an access point? Should I use 802.11a or 802.11g cards?
A number of people have advised me against using wireless networks for our purpose (saying that they wouldn't be reliable enough), but I'm hoping you can assure me that their reliability is rock solid - even when installed by a newbie like me.
P.S. The POS and office computers will be running Linux, so everything will have to be Linux compatible. Our distribution comes with drivers for a number of wireless devices installed by
default, but I presume there are devices that run on Windows/Mac but not on Linux.