d in these steps will contribute to the successful implementation of even the smallest project. The five key steps in the planning and implementation of a wireless LAN area are as follows; 1. Evaluating requirements and choosing the right technology Establish the user requirements; what is it that the users want to be able to achieve and what are their expectations of performance? Establish the technical requirements; what attributes does the technological solution need to possess in order to deliver these user requirements? Evaluate the available technologies; how do each of the available or emerging wireless LAN technologies rank against the technical requirements? Chapter Seven Selecting network hardware components; should a single or multi-vendor strategy be followed? What are the advantages and disadvantages? 2. Planning and designing the wireless LAN Surveying the RF environment; what other sources of RF energy or potential barriers to RF propagation are present in the target area of the wireless LAN? Designing the physical architecture; which architecture is right for the specific setting of the network? 3. Pilot testing Testing the chosen technology and architecture; does the chosen solution deliver the expected performance? 4. Implementation and configuration Putting the final wireless LAN in place and introducing it to the user group Configuring the appropriate security measures 5. Operation and support Keeping the wireless LAN operating efficiently and providing user support The following sections progress through each of these planning and implementation steps, while Chapter 8 is devoted to a more detailed description of the security aspects of WLANs. Evaluating Wireless LAN Requirements Establishing User Requirements If the wireless LAN is being implemented to support a large user group it will be important to gather a wide range of views on user requirements, perhaps by using a questionnaire or by interview. As a first step it may be necessary to raise awareness by demonstrating the technology to th