Communication Methods and Media

Task 3

The insurance company are extending their premises and the engineers will need to install additional networking facilities for both desktops and laptops.  

• There will be 300 employees using the extension, 200 of these will be using the extension five days a week between 9am and 5pm, 100 employees will be working mostly off site but will need to use the extension as and when needed. All users will need to access the company’s main network.

• Large amounts of data will need to be transmitted at high speeds (approximately 30Gbps).

• The extension is a permanent fixture to the company and will be used for the foreseeable future.

• There is no heavy duty electronic processing equipment so interference is not a major problem.

• Security is a concern.

Wired solution – UTP could be used.  The advantages of using this are that it is used by lots of people and therefore it is cheap, it is also easy to terminate.  If using category 5 up to 100Mbps can be transmitted.  The disadvantages are that this type of wire is very noisy (leaks signal) and suffers from interference (allows signals to leak in).  UTP would be a better choice than STP because it is not necessary to have extra shielding on the wires as there is no heavy duty electronic processing equipment to interfere with the signal.  Although UTP is suitable for the job if small amounts of data were needed to be transmitted. However, UTP cannot transmit adequate amounts of data fast enough for this extension, therefore, the obvious choice would be to extend the company’s optical fibre backbone.  Using optical fibre means that there is not a problem with interference (even if heavy duty equipment were needed in the future).  Because the optical fibre allows 64 colours to be transmitted simultaneously up to 160Gbps can be transmitted which is sufficient for the needs of the company.  The main disadvantage of using this solution is that it is very expensive compared to UTP; however, as this extension is a permanent fixture within the company it is worth investing in a solution that will serve the company’s requirements adequately.

Wireless solution – WiFi could be used.  This would enable all the computers to be connected to the main network without the use of wires.  The standard used for most WiFi connections is currently 802.11g which can transmit up to 54Mbps; there is however a new standard 802.11n which can transmit up to 300Mbps, it does this by using MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) to improve system performance.  This standard is currently only a draft standard and publication is not expected until September 2008.  Even using the new standard this would not be suitable to use as a main solution as there is too much data to be transmitted and the WiFi solution would not be able to cope with the traffic.  Another wireless solution that could be used which could cope with the traffic is microwave; this uses satellites to transmit data, the advantages of this are that large amounts of data can be transmitted over long distances but line of sight is required.  Microwave is not used within LANs and unlike WiFi, does not connect an entire network.  Microwave is usually only used as part of the network, the company already uses microwave in this way to connect to their brokers around the world.

Effectiveness of Wired and Wireless Solutions

• Both wired and wireless solutions allow sharing of resources, and connect systems together.

• Wired solutions are suitable for high volumes of traffic and generally have faster data rates than WiFi.  Currently WiFi solutions can only transmit 54Mbps of data whereas wired solutions, depending on which one used, can transmit up to 160Gbps which is a considerable difference.

• There are few security concerns when using wired solutions, whereas many companies do not have secure wireless networks, this means that anyone can access confidential information.

• A major advantage of using wireless is that there are no wires to be installed and therefore can be used in less accessible areas or terrain where it is not possible to install wires.  This also means that computers can be moved around easily and computers can be added to a network easily.

• When using a wireless network it is much easier to expand the network than it is when using a wired one.

• Wireless connection rates are not usually as fast as advertised.  When speed is advertised as 54Mbps this is the maximum speed not actual speed.  This is not the case when using wires.

• Wires are susceptible to crosstalk and interference, however if the correct wires are used for the workplace this would not be a major problem, e.g. STP in post room where interference is probable.

• Wireless solutions (such as satellites) are easier to use when transmitting data over very long distances.

• Wired networks are more established than wireless and are very reliable; therefore they tend to be more trusted than wireless.

Depending on the company situation and requirements depends on which solution is more effective.  In this case it is more effective to use a wired solution (optical fibre) rather than a wireless one (WiFi).  This is because:

• The company needs to transmit high volumes of data that the WiFi could not cope with, whereas optical fibre can.

• There will be 200 people using the extension at all times that will all need a reliable and fast network connection and a further 100 that will need the same when they are at the office.  Optical fibre would be able to deal with this amount of traffic.

• This extension is a permanent fixture and is being used for the foreseeable future so there is no reason not to lay wires if it is possible to do so.  If this were a temporary extension a wireless solution would be preferred as the company would not want the hassle of laying wires that are only going to be used temporarily.

• Wired solutions are more secure than wireless ones and as the company has stated that security is a concern a wired solution would meet their needs.

• Wired connections have a reliable and fast connection of a consistent quality, whereas the quality of a wireless connection varies.