The planning phase requires knowledge of the benefits and limitations of wireless networks, requirements for a wireless implementation in your business, and the ability to analyze the feasibility of a wireless local area network (WLAN).

In order to properly plan a wireless system, you must first identify the goal of the potential system. We use a fictitious company, Andromeda Manufacturing, to help you understand what is required throughout all phases of the wireless system design process.

Andromeda is a manufacturer of a tool destined for the retail market. Their campus is located in a rural area, and the facilities that are farthest away are approximately one mile from each other (see Figure 4.1). The president of the company has asked you to provide solutions for three business requirements the company has issued.

Figure 4.1: Andromeda Manufacturing Campus

The first of the three requirements is to provide data connectivity from the administration facility to the manufacturing and warehouse facilities. This will allow management at headquarters to gather production and shipping information and to provide e-mail for the supervisors in the remote facilities.

The second of the three requirements is to provide a better solution to the slow inventory process at the warehouse. The president has heard of a "wireless way" to perform inventories more efficiently and would like you to investigate this further.

Due to the poor quality of the telephone lines in the company's locality, frequent outages of the only data circuit the company owns...