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Equipment |
| Many different types of
equipment can be used to set up a wireless networking environment,
Project M3 examined several options all using the 802.11b standard. Here is a brief description of the different kinds of equipment that
are being used in the implementation of Project M3. |
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iBook
Apple's iBook, a powerful yet highly portable laptop, is made for
computing on the move. It has a handle so that it can easily be
carried. The iBook comes fully loaded with a lithium-ion battery
that runs up to six hours between charges. The airport networking card
fits safely under the keyboard, and the antenna for wireless
networking is built into the monitor. The
unique rubber exterior makes it very durable for student use. One
mobile lab of 12 iBooks is in use at COE. |
| Dell
Inspiron 5000e Notebooks The Dell Inspiron laptops are high performance
laptops suitable for mobile computing and
use an external wireless card made by Lucent called the WaveLAN.
The COE Tech Lab houses a Dell mobile lab with 11
laptops |
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Gateway
Solo 1150cl
This is a cost-effective choice for mobile computing in a Windows
environment. The Gateway Solo has a unique rubber-like body and a sleek
design and uses a wireless card WaveLAN card which plugs into the
PCMCIA expansion slot. Project M3 has provided Gateway laptop labs to
each of the partner schools. Brooks and North, who received the
labs in Year 1 of the project received 5 apiece, while Mueller,
Northeast and St. Patrick benefitted from price reductions in Year 2 and
received 9 each. |
| AirPort Base
Station The AirPort Base Station is Apples implementation
of the IEEE networking standard 802.11 for wireless connectivity.
Based on technology licensed from Lucent, the AirPort can connect to
the Internet through its modem port or to a LAN through its Ethernet
port.
It then acts as a bridge to as many as 10 wireless devices by
emitting radio waves with a range of up to 150 feet.
Since it is no bigger than a soup bowl, the AirPort is very portable
and can go wherever our laptops go.
At time of purchase the AirPorts were the most affordable base
station available.
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| WavePOINT II The
WavePOINT II, a Lucent product, was purchased to use at the College of
Education along with the AirPort. It
serves the same function as the AirPort with one big difference power.
We needed an access point that could blanket a larger portion of our
building than the AirPort could accommodate.
We also wanted the expandability of being able to have up to 50 users
connecting to our LAN. The Wave
POINT II has two expansion slots for its wireless card, the WaveLAN. |
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AirPort
Card The AirPort Card makes it possible for an iBook to connect to
the AirPort Base Station. This
internal card is easily installed right underneath the keyboard
of the iBook.
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WaveLAN
Turbo PC Card
There are two types of Lucent WaveLAN cards: the Silver and the Gold.
The Silver card uses 40-bit encryption and the Gold card uses 128. Both
cards plug into the PCMCIA expansion slots of the Gateway Solo and
PowerBook computers and are the same cards utilized in the AirPort and
WavePOINT base stations. |
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Handheld Computers
Another way in which the M3 grant is supporting mobility is through the
use of handhelds or personal digital assistants (PDAs).
Handspring, Palm, Compaq and Sony are a few of the companies producing
these popular handheld computers. Handhelds are becoming more and
more versatile in education. In addition to portability, handhelds
provide many of the same functions as a desktop computer. The M3 grant has expanded its handheld collection to 15 Handsprings
plus several peripheral devices. |
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Bretford Cart
With the purchase of laptops comes the need for a secure storage and
recharging. We looked at several different types of carts and
decided upon the cost-effective Bretford model. It is made of
highly durable steel, is mobile, and holds up to 15 laptop computers.
Recharging all of the computers is done with one cord at the back of the
cart. |
