Review: Training course for newbies

If you are new to the wireless industry or there is someone in your organization who could use some basic education about the concepts of wireless networking, you might take a sneak preview of " The Newbie's Guide to Wireless Networks, " an online multimedia tutorial offered by WKMN Training.

For those of you who have been around the block on wireless technology, this series of short primers will seem overly simplistic (hence, the course's title). But the training could be useful to those just entering the field or to technically savvy personnel who want to help provide their CxOs or business managers with some insight about what can be achieved with wireless technology, and what some of the obstacles are.

The primers are presented in easily digestible one- to three-minute segments, though they total three to four hours of education. They use a combination of audio, animation, text, and innovative quizzes to cover the basic concepts of wireless LANs, mobile telephony networks, fixed last-mile wireless networks, personal-area networks, and Bluetooth. There is also an introduction that discusses the costs and efforts associated with physical cabling and the basics of RF technology. The segment on how the various frequency band-sharing schemes work is particularly helpful, making effective use of animation to show how analog and digital channels are chopped up by time or by frequency.

If you are looking for technical depth, though, this isn't the place to go. Case in point: the wireless LAN security segment lasts one minute and 11 seconds. In fairness, the course does send you optional " Web excursions " to related sites with materials written on the subject at hand, such as in-depth white papers on wireless security.

My favorite part of the course was Newbie himself, a lovable, yellow-headed, red-footed Flash-toon who informs you as to whether you have answered a quiz question correctly.

The course costs $50 if you sign on before December 15, according to the company's Web site. After you first log in, you are given six months to continue visiting before your registration expires. To find out more about the course and read other reviews, visit www.wkmn.com/newsite/newbie.html#reviews

Wireless LANs could be in your hands soon
Network World, 11/12/01

Joanie Wexler is an independent networking technology writer/editor in Campbell, Calif., who has spent most of her career analyzing trends and news in the computer networking industry. She welcomes your comments on the articles published in this newsletter, as well as your ideas for future article topics. Reach her at joanie@jwexler.com.

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