Wireless LAN Limitations

Wireless LAN (or WiFi 802.11) can simply be stated as a local area network which incorporates air as its medium for transmitting and receiving data. This inclusion of air as the prime medium, however, adds some unavoidable bottlenecks in the architecture of wireless LANs, which can also be termed as their drawbacks or limitations.

Vulnerability

Wireless LAN is vulnerable, i.e., it is not as secured as a wired network. This remains the biggest limitation of any wireless LAN, which makes it an impossible choice for those users who have some sense of data integrity and security. Furthermore, its vulnerability features always limits it to hotels, airport lounges and other general public places, but it is never a choice for banks, military offices or other secured institutions.

Data Rates

Another limitation of a wireless LAN is its lower data rate, as compared to wired local area networks. For instance, a computer system connected with a wired LAN can always have an excess of bandwidth with full data rates available for uploading and downloading data--an idealistic assumption, which can never be made for a wireless LAN.

Unreliability

Data services on wireless LANs are unreliable, which means that (as compared to wired LANs) there is no surety about when a connection will be dropped. This (service dropping) is a usual happening in any wireless network at any place of earth, since air is used as a medium, which changes its features with even small variations in the weather and surrounding environment.

References

• Wireless LAN Security
• WLAN: Range, Performance, and Roaming Considerations
• Wireless LAN Security: Enabling and Protecting the Enterprise