WLAN
Computer Sciences and Information Technology
Topic:
Create a presentation to deliver to the staff of a medical client about WLANs
Week 1 Case Study
Week 1 assignment will be based on content taken from the text book. All arguments must be supported by textbook, research or experience based examples
Assignment:
– Create a presentation to deliver to the staff of a medical client about WLANs
Submission Instructions:
Your completed essay must be submitted as an MS Word attachment to this assignment no later than Sunday 11:00 PM EST.
Assignments completed in a narrative essay or composition format must follow the citation style cited in the American Psychological Association (Help write my thesis – APA). Students are encouraged to read/understand the Basics.
Assignment 1 Case Study
You are employed by The Baypoint Group (TBG), a company of 50 consultants that assists organizations and businesses with issues involving network planning, design, implementation,and problem solving. You have recently been hired by TBG to work with one of their new clients, Vincent Medical Center (VMC), a large health care facility, concerning their wireless needs.
Each day, VMC doctors and nurses throughout the facility attend to thousands of patients, update medical records, issue prescriptions, and order medical exams. VMC deployed a sophisticated suite of medical software that stores all patient records, exam results, and diagnoses. The system is also fully integrated with VMC’s pharmacy and can process purchase orders,payments,and receipts as well as inventory and shipments. However,all data entry and processing currently requires that a staff member be at a nursing station or office to access the application and central VMC database.
1. VMC is interested in learning about the possibilities of upgrading all of its infrastructure and deploying a wireless network to allow doctors, nurses, and all staff to access information from anywhere within the entire medical facility (two buildings). VMC does not want to spend money installing additional network cabling connections to every patient room. VMC has asked you to make a presentation to its administrator regarding the use of a WLAN.
Create a presentation to deliver to the staff about WLANs. Be sure to cover the following points:
Greater mobility for doctors and nurses
Ease and cost of installation
Easier network modifications
Increased network reliability
Radio signal interference
Security
Instructions:
Students will submit their assignment as a Word document. Submissions should be submitted in a font and page set-up that is readable and neat. All essays must be prepared in Microsoft Word and uploaded to the appropriate online assignment. Please include your name, course number, week number and assignment name at the top of your submissions e.g. StudentName -ISSC343 – Week 1 Case
WLAN
As the tech world evolves, there is a need for each industry to consider ways of embracing new techniques. Vincent Medical Center (VMC) is likely to benefit from the advantages of the implementation of wireless local area networks (WLAN). The aim of The Baypoint Group (TBG) is to ensure that the facility can achieve a suitable acquisition that meets the organization’s needs. Healthcare settings rely highly on data to improve the quality of their workflow, hence improving consumers’ experience. This report addresses the VMC staff’s concerns on WLANs by focusing on mobility, installation, network modifications, radio signal interference, and security.
Mobility is the most prominent benefits of WLANs that has made technology gain popularity. This is because users can log onto the network and engage in shared resources (Goodman, 2020). VMC will enable the nurses and doctors to share the medical records from various workstations, offices, or on the go and experience real-time results. The nature of a hospital workflow has clinical stuff moving around so often hence the need for wireless connections that do not constrain users to specific locations. WLANs will allow VMC doctors and nurses to be truly mobile as long as they are within the network coverage area.
The installation of WLAN is also easy and cost-effective. There is less cabling, which means the facility will cut down on laying cables (Goodman, 2020). It also becomes easier to set up workstations or move them since the cable factor is easier to manage. In most cases, the organization will only consider moving the routers or adding more wireless routers at designated positions to increase or decrease coverage. When working with cables, facilities have to consider drilling through walls, pulling cables through the ceiling and covering them against corners, which may be costly. WLAN eliminates these costs since there are no installation fees paid to handymen to get the work done.
Modifying the network will also be an option as the organization can decide if it needs a complex or simple design. The various access nodes across the facility can be manipulated to determine the access controls (Goodman, 2020). This will give the facility the authority to dictate the levels of privilege given to different users. As per the laws and regulations that govern healthcare IT, it is only reasonable that the network modifications reflect hospital policies. These modifications can be performed often and when desired to implement changes immediately.
An increase in network reliability is advantageous for VMC considering the nature of workflows in today’s business world. Wireless networks ensure that the system continues to function even if one node is out of service. Hospitals need to be functional 24/7, and a slight failure on the network could mean lost revenue and compromised health and safety. If a node fails, other network nodes will continue to function as usual (Goodman, 2020). The only inconvenience will be for the doctors and nurses to move to an area with coverage. However, wireless networks work through radio waves from a beacon that feeds from the server hence making it easier to access the same shared resources from various beacons.
On the downside, there are challenges with WLAN technologies, including radio signal interference and security concerns. Luckily, these challenges are minor and can be mitigated with ease. Radio signal interference occurs when devices with the same frequency as an access point are placed close (Juniper, 2017). Since wireless connections share the same air and operate under unlicensed bands, it is hard to control how they access the same channel. Solutions to this problem include eliminating hidden nodes since they produce redundant cyclic checks, implementing good electrical connections, and increasing the distance between non-network devices and nodes. It is also useful to look out for consumer complaints due to network slowdowns. This will inform on interference and enable the facility to rectify the problem immediately.
However, wireless networks are found to be less secure since others can steal bandwidth or tap into the network. Man-in-the-middle attacks are not uncommon with WLANs, which poses a big threat to information theft. To minimize the risks of attack, VMC will have to install a firewall, protect the Service Set Identifier (SSID), encrypt data, change passwords, connect to a VPN, maintain antivirus software, and restrict access (CISA, 2020). These steps will help prevent and intervene in attacks hence keeping the network secure. With these measures, it is possible to enjoy the benefits of WLANs while taking precautions.
Overall, TBG highly recommends implementing WLAN across the VMC facility since its benefits outweigh the risks. The staff should be willing to embrace the new technology since it promotes mobility in support of their workflow. On top of that, the facility is likely to cut down on installation and maintenance costs since wireless networks offer increased reliability and decreased workforce to implement the technology. Despite WLAN facing interference and security challenges, there are solutions to ensure VMC experiences available and secure services while using the network.
References
CISA. (2020). Securing Wireless Networks. Retrieved from https://us-cert.cisa.gov/ncas/tips/ST05-003
Goodman, P. (2020). Wireless Network vs Wired Network: Advantages and Disadvantages. Retrieved from https://turbofuture.com/computers/Wireless-Network-vs-Wired-Network-Advantages-and-Disadvantages
Juniper. (2017). Understanding Wireless Interference. Retrieved from https://www.juniper.net/documentation/en_US/junos-space-apps/network-director3.1/topics/concept/wireless-interference.html
