Although the term "wireless network" is used loosely, in fact there are three different kinds of network.

• Wide Area Networks, which the cellular carriers create,
• Wireless Local Area Networks, that you would create, and
• Personal Area Networks, which create themselves.

They all have their part to play in the developing wireless solutions, in various combinations or separately. This article describes these different types of network, and explains where each can add value.

Wide Area Networks

Wide Area Networks involve the networks offered by cell phone carriers such as the Rogers Wireless, Telus Mobility and Bell Mobility. Originally providing the voice services through cellular, the carriers have added the data services also, first by overlaying the services of the digital data on top of the analogue services of voice, and later building out the new generation data-plus-voice networks.

You could use the WANs when the reach is the vital aspect of the solution, and speed is far less important. Reach is the important if you're providing the wireless solutions to public at the large, for instance, or you wish to give the employees a wireless access to the corporate data, regardless of whether they are in their home, office, out of town, across town.

Wireless Local Area Networks

Wireless LANs are the networks that are set up to offer wireless connectivity within the measurable coverage area. A Typical area of coverage might be the hospital (for the patient care systems), the university, an airport, or the gas plant. They generally have the well-known clients in mind, for instance the field maintenance crew, students or the providers of health care. You could use the WLANS when high transfer rate of data is the most vital aspect of the solution, and reach is a restriction. For instance, in the hospital setting, you will need the high data rate to send the x-rays of the patient to a doctor wirelessly, provided that he must be in the premises of the hospital.

Personal Area Networks

These are the networks that offer wireless connectivity over the distances of up to 10 meters or so. This look ridiculously small at first, but this range lets the computer to be wirelessly connected to a printer nearby, or the handsfree headset of the cell phone to be wirelessly connected to a cell phone. The most hyped technology in discussion is the Bluetooth.

Personal Area Networks differ a little bit than the WLANs and WANs in one vital respect. In the WLAN and WAN cases, the networks are configured first, which the devices use after. In the case of Personal Area Network, there isn't any pre-existing independent network.

Common Types of Wireless Network

802.11 Wi-Fi

WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access

LMDS Local Multipoint Distribution Service

IrDA Infrared

Bluetooth Blutooth

1xRTT 1x Radio Transmission Technology

GPRS General Packet Radio Service

PDC-P Packet Data Cellular

HSCSD High Speed Circuit Switched Data