Setting Up a Wireless Office Network

You've spent a fortune building up your office network, and already it's nearly obsolete: To stay productive, all your employees have to be at their desks all the time. Meanwhile, sales leads and urgent e-mails go unanswered whenever your staff members meet in conference rooms or step away from their workstations. Enough! Here's how you can cut the cords with a wireless office network.

1. Choose your weapon.

Wireless networks are no longer just science projects. If you don't mind tinkering, it may be worth your while to become an early adopter of Bluetooth. The standard will make serial port sync cables a thing of the past, because any Bluetooth device within 30 feet of your PC can automatically bond with and relate its travels to home base. Alternatively an 802.11b setup, also called Wi-Fi, will eliminate the associated stringy blue cables hanging from the office ceiling.

Keep in mind that neither system is as affordably priced as the broadband router and Ethernet hub flavor du jour. You'll pay quite a premium to cut the cord. But you'll also save a relative fortune in cabling fees, because expanding the office will no longer involve threading the walls with wire.