3COM's wireless networking devices product line includes several Wireless Bridges that are designed for specific data transfer rates, wireless standards, coverage footprint, and operating (outdoors vs. indoors) environments.

Wireless Bridges allow you to not only extend the functionality/reach of your wired/wireless networks, they also allow you to interconnect/aggregate traffic from otherwise dissimilar/disjoint network segments.

Most 3COM wireless bridges can be used to not only provide wireless capabilities to your computers that do not have wireless capabilities built-in, but also for providing them easy access to other computing resources that may be provisioned/available on your remote wireless/wired network segments -including file systems/shares, printers, point-of-sale devices, and your Internet gateway.

3Com IEEE 802.11a/b/g Wireless LAN Workgroup Bridge: Designed to inexpensively bridge multiple wireless clients -e.g., when paired with an inexpensive (such as 3Com OfficeConnect 3C16754-US) Dual Speed Hub, it can bridge up to 16 802.11a/b/g based clients to your wireless LAN.

• Wireless Standards Supported: 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g
  
• Encryption: Advanced 256-bit WPA encryption for 11g clients, and 40/64- and 128-bit WEP encryption for 802.11a and 802.11b clients.
  
• Authentication: Supports 802.1X server authentication with PEAP and EAP-TTLS protocol to allow only authorized access to your network.
  
• Manufacturer's Product #: 3CRWE675075-US
  
• Product Summary: This 3COM bridge is designed to provide easy integration/expansion of dissimilar networks -including a setup that involves mixed wired and wireless network segments. By supporting all of the three wireless standards: IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g, it allows you to support a wide variety of wireless clients on your network. It allows remote management using a Web browser, or any of the off-the-shelf SNMP management tools. One of the most convenient features (from your end-users' perspective) is its Auto Network Connect that keeps your wireless users connected to your network -even when they are roaming across different IP subnets. It can be setup to operate in either ad hoc or infrastructure mode.

3Com Wireless LAN Building-to-Building Bridge: This 3COM wireless gear is designed to bridge IEEE 802.11b Wireless 10/100BASE-TX company/campus-area networks -thereby eliminating the need for slower (but often very expensive) T1 lines. This Wireless LAN Building-to-Building Bridge works with any Wi-Fi-compatible access point; and supports 40-bit/128-bit WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) encryption, and 128 Dynamic Security Link encryption.

• Wireless Standards Supported: 11Mbps IEEE 802.11b wi-fi standard.
  
• Supports 802.3af-standard Power over Ethernet (PoE)? : Yes.
  
• Encryption: Supports 40-bit and 128-bit WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) encryption, 128 Dynamic Security Link encryption, and VPN pass-through for additional security.
  
• Authentication: Supports 802.1X server authentication with PEAP and EAP-TTLS protocol to allow only authorized access to your network.
  
• Typical Usage/Configuration: When used with appropriate antenna, and setup correctly; this 3COM bridge is suitable for creating (point-to-point) links across campus buildings or hospitality center locations at distances up to 24 kilometers or about 15 miles. When used for establishing point-to-multipoint networks in large multibuilding/multivendor environments, this bridge can be equipped using multiple antenna options for achieving optimal signal strength.

  Support for both the Point-to-point and multipoint (one-to-one or one-to-many) network topology makes this bridge a great (a flexible, and an inexpensive) choice for designing/configuring building-to-building wireless networks.

• Manufacturer's Product #: 3CRWE91096A
  
• Product Summary: This 3COM bridge is designed to provide easy integration/expansion of dissimilar networks that span across multiple buildings. Features include support for Dynamic Rate Selection, web-based remote management, and remotely upgradable firmware. This 3COM bridge would be an excellent choice for expanding your LANs across multiple building/campus locations, and it is extremely easy to setup and maintain/manage -especially if you have other 3COM brand managed (switches, routers, APs, etc.) devices on your network.

3Com Wireless LAN Indoor Building-to-Building Bridge: This 3Com Wireless Bridge designed for Indoor usage (for bridging Building-to-Building LANs indoors) is not only flexible and inexpensive, it is capable of pumping data at transfer rates approaching 54Mbps. This indoor building-to-building 3Com Wireless bridge is great for connecting LANs in large open interiors -such as in warehouses, convention centers, multi-location hospitality centers, or for linking adjacent buildings in a campus-like setting.

• Wireless Standards Supported: Designed to bridge IEEE 802.11g Wireless 10/100BASE-TX networks, it is compatible with any Wi-Fi-compatible access point.
  
• Supports 802.3af-standard Power over Ethernet (PoE)? : Yes, works with any Power over Ethernet (PoE) switch, IntelliJack PoE power sources, or other PoE injectors designed to supply both power and data to the bridge over network cabling.
  
• Encryption: Supports 40-bit and 128-bit WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) encryption, 128 Dynamic Security Link encryption, pass-through VPN, and VLAN.
  
• Authentication: Supports 802.1X server authentication with PEAP and EAP-TTLS protocol.
  
• Typical Usage/Configuration: When equipped with 4dBi to 18dBi antenna panels, or with omni-directional antennas, this bridge is ideally suited for setting up Point-to-point and point-to-multipoint (up to seven 3COM bridges) network topology in large indoor spaces -especially when one needs to expand indoor LANs across building-to-building networks in point-to-multipoint configuration topologies.
  
• Manufacturer's Product #: 3CRWE920G73-US
  
• Product Summary: This 3COM bridge is designed to provide easy integration/expansion of dissimilar networks that span large indoor spaces. Also includes support for Dynamic Rate Selection, web-based remote management, and remotely upgradable firmware/EEPROMs. This 3COM bridge would be an excellent choice for expanding your LANs across multiple building/campus locations; and it is extremely easy to setup and maintain/manage over the web or by using SNMP based network management tools.

As you may see from the preceding review of select 3COM Wireless Bridges, they are ideal low-cost options for creating/expanding wireless hotspots at business locations -be it your hotel, convention center, your banquet hall, or your recreation center.