FedEx Ground’s wireless LAN, supplied by Holtsville, N.Y.-based Symbol Technologies, cost about 20 percent more than an equivalent wired LAN that would have required workers to insert their portable devices into a docking unit. But Hlutkowsky says the added expense has been more than offset by gains in efficiency and productivity. "With a wireless LAN, workers don’t have to move away from their work in order to upload information; they can access the network from wherever the work--such as package loading and unloading--is being performed," he says.

Public Places

Wireless LANs are also helping to redefine local networking by allowing organizations to create environments that automatically link portable devices, such as notebook computers, personal digital as-sistants and Web-enabled mobile phones, into an onsite wireless LAN. Seattle-based coffee retailer Starbucks, for example, recently teamed with Microsoft and Rich-ardson, Texas-based network services pro-vider MobileStar to create wireless environments in 70 percent of its 3,000 North American corporate stores. The technology will allow java sippers to zap messages and files to each other and to access broadband content and services.

But Starbucks’ foray into wireless technology is old news to Aaron Ruggaber, director of purchasing for the Penticton Lakeside Resort and Casino in Penticton, British Columbia. Penticton Lakeside has been offering its guests a wireless network environment since mid-2000. When guests check in to the resort, they get more than just a room key: They also have the choice of receiving a wireless network PC card and accompanying client software that can be integrated into a notebook computer or other mobile device. The service is priced at $15 (Canadian) per day for unlimited use. "People now expect to have high-speed Internet access wherever they are," says Ruggaber. "If you’re in the hospitality field, you have to be able to offer people the services they want."

Since the resort regularly hosts conventions, the wireless network eliminates the need to install temporary telephone lines for dial-up connections. The Lucent ORiNOCO wireless technology also did away with the need for facility renovations that would have taken several months to complete. "The wireless network was up and running in just a few days with little disruption to the hotel’s regular routine," says Ruggaber. A total of 10 antennas and access servers provide blanket coverage throughout the resort. Broadband Internet access is delivered to the LAN via a satellite link.

Guest response to the wireless environment has been positive and enthusiastic, Ruggaber says. "Our first major test of the technology was during a medical supply company meeting. The client signed to return the next year, largely because they were so impressed with our wireless LAN."