For Small Business IT Networks

Building-to-Building Wireless Bridging

Connecting the networks of multiple buildings can be an expensive proposition. Trenching cable across a campus to a new site is time-consuming and costly, and paying for a leased line can be unnecessarily expensive. License-free wireless bridges offer a quick and affordable way to establish secure, high-speed data connections between buildings. This can eliminate the cost of an extra leased line, provide an emergency redundant communication link, or act as an inexpensive data backhaul. By reducing installation costs and eliminating recurring fees associated with standard T1, E1 or DS-3 lines, wireless bridges can often pay for themselves within a few months.

Wireless bridges are installed on or near appropriate buildings, and linked to your existing LAN infrastructure. Installation of a wireless link is quick and relatively simple. Wireless also offers equal or better performance, security and reliability to cabling. Data rates for various wireless bridges range from 1.1 Mbps to a gigabit, and distance between buildings can exceed 40 miles.

DCI offers expert wireless consulting to help you plan, implement and maintain point-to-point and point-to-multipoint wireless bridges that allow you to integrate multiple buildings into a seamless network.

IEEE 802.3 Wireless Bridges
For connecting two buildings up to 6 miles away, companies such as Proxim offer weatherized IEEE 802.3 wireless bridge solutions that are 20 times faster than a T1 line and can be installed in minutes.

Wireless Ethernet bridges are reliable, secure and easily-deployed solutions for interconnecting corporate and telecommunications networks. Point-to-point wireless Ethernet bridges provide transparent, carrier-class connectivity with performance options ranging from 11 to 960 Mbps. This makes it possible to integrate VPN, realtime video, Voice-over-IP, and digital PBX connections over a single wireless network.

Point-to-multipoint wireless Ethernet systems can connect multiple remote sites to your network, offering an economical way to interconnect campus buildings and security systems, integrate detached business sites, or install last-mile connections. Point-to-multipoint systems range from 11 to 60 Mbps capacity in both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz license-exempt bands.

DCI can help you design, select, test, deploy and maintain secure wireless building-to-building bridges that integrate transparently into your IT network while offering a level of security that equals or exceeds wireline connections. For an example of DCI's consulting services for building-to-building wireless bridging, read the Wireless Integration Case Study.