The following are different types of "mobile workers".

1. Tethered/remote worker: This is considered to be an employee who generally remains at a single point of work, but is remote to the central company systems. This includes home workers, tele-cottagers and, in some cases, branch workers.

2. Roaming user: This is either an employee who works in an environment (e.g., warehousing, shop floor, etc.) or in multiple areas (e.g., meeting rooms).

3. Nomad: This category covers employees requiring solutions in hotel rooms and other semi-tethered environments where modem use is still prevalent, along with the increasing use of multiple wireless technologies and devices.

4. Road warrior: This is the ultimate mobile user and spends little time office; however, he/she requires regular access to data and collaborative functionality while on the move, in transit or in hotels. This type includes the sales and field forces.

Wireless technologies have become increasingly popular in day-to-day business and personal lives. Hand-held devices such as the PDAs allow individuals to access calendars, E-Mail addresses, phone number lists and the Internet. Wireless networks extend the range of traditional wired networks by using radio waves to transmit. data to wireless-enabled devices such as laptops and PDAs. Wireless networks are generally composed of two basic elements: (a) access points (APs) and (b) other wireless enabled devices, such as laptops radio transmitters and receivers to communicate or "connect" with each other (See Figure 1). APs are connected through physical wiring to a conventional network, and they broadcast signals with which a wireless device can connect.