Over the past few months, a great deal of discussion has occurred about wireless LAN (WLAN) access. The recent approval of the IEEE 802.11b standard for wireless networking has produced several new products. The wireless technology is an exciting method of connecting the mobile campus user to the various information resources available locally and on the Internet. With the use of personal computing as a key teaching tool, wireless access will become a convenience this institution must provide. Initially, high use areas like lecture halls and conference rooms would be equipped with wireless LAN capability, with the hope that some day in the future most end user connections could be wireless. The technology is fairly inexpensive today and will continue to become less expensive and "standard equipment" over time. It is possible for most any one or any group to implement a WLAN to solve a specific need. However, there are several concerns that must be addressed having to do with campus wide wireless LAN deployment. The purpose of this paper to describe these concerns and to show that WLANs are an extension of the existing campus LAN and that issues of installation, authorized access, support and maintenance need to be centrally controlled by Telecommunications and Networking (T&N).

Deployment of WLANs consists of the installation of Access Points (APs) that act as a bridge between the existing wired LAN (fiber or copper) and the wireless LAN interface card that is installed in the remote end-point (laptop PC). Wireless LAN interface cards are available for all of the Microsoft Windows operating systems, Apple MacOS, and Linux and come in either a PCI or PCMCIA form factor. The APs are generally stand-alone units that can serve multiple remote end-points. The 802.11b standard provides for a fairly fool proof installation as far as interference avoidance with radio frequency (RF) noise and with other units. The maximum distance between the AP and the end-node is approximately 100 feet or less indoors, depending on how many walls and general RF environment the signals must penetrate. Each AP must be carefully position to give maximum coverage, but must not hear from another AP (overlap), as that would cause a data loop condition and badly degrade performance. All sources of RF energy in the 2.4 Ghz range must be identified and dealt with to get a reliable transmission environment. This is the reason why wide-scale campus coverage by WLANs will take planning and some experimentation to provide a reliable connection. There is the potential for interference from other types of wireless RF devices and from broadband noise generators like laboratory and scientific equipment, some forms of lighting fixtures, and office equipment.Any foreign (unauthorized) APs would interfere with the official wireless equipment, and are therefore PROHIBITED. As the WLAN becomes more pervasive, more factors could contribute to unreliable access. Issues of redundancy and WLAN monitoring must be addressed. Technical expertise must be developed to recognize and solve such problems.

The APs can do user authentication to limit the access to the LAN. The potential problem is the varying degree of security that would exist if the wireless environment were not centrally managed. Someone using a laptop in a lounge or cafeteria or even outside under a tree could gain access to the campus LAN. For official authorized users, this is a comfortable and efficient way of using the LAN. But, if security is loose or non-existent, anyone could gain access. If access authentication is not seriously administered, the potential for abuse and resulting liability exists. With the uncontrolled use of wireless LAN access points, there could potentially be hundreds of paths for unauthorized access that are virtually untraceable.

Obviously, this institution must provide superior support and maintenance of the wireless LAN with so many users relying on it so heavily. Issues ranging from installing the WLAN interfaces and software on end-nodes, user authentication, and what happens when a whole classroom has no access must be addressed.T&N does not currently have a large knowledge base of how to deploy WLANs. But it is a logical extension of the wired LAN and makes sense that T&N should champion the effort to determine the appropriate methods for deploying WLANs on campus. T&N is responsible for the network per the UTHSCSA Handbook of Operating Procedures (Section 6.4.4 - RE: Responsibility transferred from Computing Resources to T&N - November 1998). Any interested individuals or groups that would like to further discuss wireless LANs for specific use in the near-term on campus should contact T&N.