In addition, computing is becoming more mobile, handheld and notebook computer sales are growing each year. This move towards mobile use and a reliance on the network has caused increasing problems for computing departments in all areas of industry and education. To address these problems Radio and Infrared technology is being used to connect mobile users and network buildings which previously would have been impossible. What was once an fledgling technology is being transformed by improved systems into a viable cost effective solution. As with wired networks, wireless LANs have a higher data rate and are confined to small areas, either a building or campus.
Wireless WANs can cover anything from a city to a continent.
The work carried out at Canterbury Christ Church College concentrated on Local Area Networks and much of the content of this paper is dedicated to wireless LANs, however, a brief description of wireless WANs is included.