Brief Analysis of wireless bridging Windows

A common problem for small and medium-sized enterprises is that the computer systems in the company are often separated into several units with a certain distance. For example, a company may have many computers in its office, and several computers are scattered in its factory. In addition, a company usually has offices outside China, or there will be several company computers next to or downstairs. Usually, the IT department will encounter a problem, that is, how to connect the company's computers together.

One way is to install a vswitch in a group of computers and connect other computers with cables. However, this does not work for computer groups with a distance of more than 100 meters. At the same time, the cost is very high. This structure is especially troublesome if the company plans to increase the number of computers in the future.

Another way is to install a small switch in each computer group and connect these switches. If the distance between switches is no more than 100 meters, you can use the Cat 5 cable. If the distance is large and you do not want to spend money on the optical fiber, then, the best choice for you is to use a wireless bridge. Wireless Bridges are the most commonly used small devices, similar to wireless access points, but they are relatively expensive.

All managers are familiar with the Connection Sharing feature in Windows and often use it flexibly in the enterprise network. However, many people do not realize that Windows XP also has a network bridging feature, which is quite different from its connection sharing. Frankly speaking, I seldom recommend using computers to replace specialized network hardware devices when transmitting information. However, when connecting several wireless NICs in a small peer network, bridging is a very practical solution.

You only need to insert a wireless network card (multiple networks are inserted if there are multiple groups) to one computer in each group to establish a bridge between the Ethernet and the wireless network card, you have created a subnet covering two groups, so that you do not need to route, that is, all devices are in the subnet of 192.168.1.x.

The installation can be completed quickly by pressing a few buttons. network interface cards are much cheaper than access points and bridges, and wireless signals can generally be transmitted one mile away (depending on the antenna ). Of course, like Connection Sharing, the drawback is that if either of the two computers in the network is closed, the entire network connection will be interrupted. For the same reason, the performance of each computer depends on how busy the two computers are. Even so, you may feel something worthwhile.

1. Enhance security by combining VPN and Wireless Bridge
2. Wireless Optical Fiber (FSO): a safe and reliable bridge technology