TABLE OF CONTENTS Wireless LAN technology has grown rapidly in importance over the last two years. Indeed, we happily predict that, by the time of publication, much of this material will already be outdated! However, the key points of our discussion will still be valid:
wireless LAN technology provides both competitive and complementary functionality to 2G and 3G mobile networks;
there is a wide range of applications in many market segments;
the markets are still growing rapidly with the increasing penetration of laptop computers and PDAs.
The market segment of wireless networks looks set to continue growing strongly through 2007 and beyond with world-wide end-user expenditure on wireless LAN equipment expected to grow to $3.9bn by 2007 [19]. The actual compound annual growth rate of WLAN peripheral shipments is estimated to be 42% between 2001 and 2007. Figures like these show that wireless is set to make a big impression over the next few years.
The ease of use of the technology has been key in the explosion of use. However, there are concerns [20] that future developments particularly those aimed at improving security could be incompatible with the ease-of-use requirement. Indeed, the practical implementation of the security model for many wireless LAN products has been questioned, casting doubt on the use of in-built security. In fact, the default out-of-the-box wireless LAN has security switched off, and many early networks ignored security issues. Reports of drive by hacking have proliferated in the press, where Internet or even intranet connectivity is...
