Dell shows off new wireless technology
Dell has demonstrated wireless networking technology which will be available for its notebook PCs by April 2000, writes Caroline...
Teaming up with Cisco subsidiary Aironet, Dell is using the high-speed wireless Lan standard IEEE 802.11.
With the technology Dell users insert a wireless network card into their machines to transmit data to a local access point from the notebook. Access points are connected to an Internet server and support up to 100 users.
Dell claims transfer rates from 2mbps to 11 mbps up to 300m from access points.
But IEEE 802.11 has been criticised for not achieving the network speeds originally promised.
Independent test laboratory Tolly Group showed that small increases in distances between appliances, busy networks or even intervening objects could reduce transmission rates to less than 1Mbps
