Wireless systems - What are the pros and cons?

It’s easy to think of wireless technology as the answer to all our installation needs, but it would be wrong to consider wireless systems as anything more than a very useful addition to a fully wired system.

The 802.11 G wireless standard has revolutionised wireless technology as its high data transfer rate and large coverage distance make it very useful for a range of applications. However even 802.11 G wireless connections are limited by their data transfer rate which is generally around 54 megabits per second compared to wired network connections which perform up to 1 gigabit per second. (1gigabit = 1000 megabits)

This result of this is that wireless is much slower for transferring files between computers or streaming of music and video.

The other problem with wireless is that range is realistically limited to 30 meters in the average household before the signal strength falls off exponentially. It is possible to run cable to another wireless access point in the house and thus extend the range. It is also possible to wirelessly link access points but the technology is still not 100% and is prone to causing problems.

Wireless comes in to its own as an addition to the wired network. This allow you to use devices such as laptops anywhere in the house, perhaps inthe kitchen during breakfast to check your emails and browse the internet.

Wireless networks also have the advantage that can provide complete control of your system from a touch screen controller from the comfort of your sofa. Systems such as AMX put everything from cinema systems, to lighting, air conditioning and security gates at your control with every item controlled by the AMX processor which is linked to the touch screen by the wireless network. Another example would be using a PDA with a wireless link to an Imerge CD archive displaying all your the albums (including cover artwork) on the PDA screen so you can easily select the music of you choice to play anywhere in the house.