Calabasas company plugs into the computer connection revolution.

A Calabasas-based company called Xircom Inc. last month introduced one of the latest entries in an emerging technology that may ultimately revolutionize the way businesses set up their computer networks.

Xircom's creation is a device the size of a credit card that plugs into the back of a portable computer and enables it to operate in a wireless network with other computers, both portable and desktop.

Sold under the trade name Netwave, the device contains a tiny radio transmitter, an antenna and electronic components to link the computer with others in the network.

Xircom's device is aimed at a market that many believe is the future of portable and desktop computers: Wireless local area networks.

Local area networks have become one of the most popular means in the business world of letting multiple users share the same files and data. LANs, as they are known in high-tech circles, are used by sales organizations, accounting and legal firms, newspapers, manufacturing concerns and virtually all other kind of businesses and industries.

One of the big drawbacks of LANs, however, is that they're permanent, wired networks. Rearranging desks or moving a department to another part of the building can be expensive because it means rewiring the network. It's also inconvenient because it means losing time while computers are reinstalled at a new location. The promise of wireless LANs is that computers can be moved anytime, anywhere, and users can be up and running in a new network literally within minutes.

So far that promise has been largely unfulfilled, however, because wireless LAN technology is so new. The first commercial wireless LAN products were introduced only four years ago by AT&T Global Business Solutions. And according to Newton, Mass.-based Business Research Group, an independent consulting firm, the wireless LAN market this year will total only $36 million. The firm predicts that figure will grow to $350 million in the next six years.

One reason that more companies haven't switched to wireless LANs is that so many of them already have wired networks, and switching to wireless technology is expensive because each computer in a wireless network requires a special adapter that costs between $500 and $700.

There have also been some bugs in the technology, experts say, and there's really no reason to switch if you have a wired network that's working fine and you have no plans to move desks or departments.

On the other hand, according to senior product manager Randel Maestre of AT&T Global Business Solutions, wireless networks can save money and eliminate down time for companies that change locations or restructure departments frequently.

"With all of the moves and changes that occur in the business world today, the costs involved in moving and rewiring a wired network are extremely high. A wireless network eliminates that need for rewiring," Maestre said.

Whether a company should install a wired or a wireless network depends on whether it plans to move or rearrange the network, Maestre added.

"If you look purely at the up-front costs of the wireless cards, yes, it's cheaper to install a wired network. But you have to look into the future and determine the number of times you plan on moving. If your organization tends to move around or change frequently, a wireless network will probably cost less in the long run," Maestre said.

Maestre said the two main demands driving the wireless industry today are "connectivity" and "mobility." The demand for connectivity means that businesses want executives, salespeople, order entry clerks, warehouse workers and everyone else to be connected to their computer networks so that they can enter information directly rather than write it on paper and have it entered later.

The demand for mobility means that companies want employees who move around to be able to remain connected to the network.

Portable computers provide mobility, but until recently they could only be connected to networks by literally plugging in with wires.

May Tsoi, a product manager for Xircom, explained that the company's new Netwave device allows a portable computer to "talk to" other portable computers that are equipped with the adapters. At the same time it introduced the wireless adapter for portables, Xircom introduced a device called the Netwave Access Point that can be installed on a wired network to enable portables to communicate with the wired network.

The access point contains a radio transmitter and receiver so that the portables can communicate with it via wireless technology.

Tsoi said that Xircom, a 6-year-old company that specializes in networking equipment for portables, introduced the two adapters to meet the increasing demand for computers that can remain connected to a network while their users move around.

Tsoi said Xircom's focus is on supplementing wired networks, not replacing them, by "allowing the user to go places where the wired network cannot go."

One of the fastest growing uses of wireless networks, according to Maestre, is in retail stores. He said retailers often need to move point of sale terminals and to link computerized inventory control systems with portable computers and hand-held bar code scanners.

AT&T's wireless network product, called WaveLan, enables desktop computers to communicate with each other at distances of up to 800 feet. But wireless networks can be connected to each other even if they are on different floors of a high-rise building or spread out over a sprawling business campus.

Maestre explained that the wireless networks can be interlinked by installing a series of access points in the computer cables throughout the building. Like Xircom's access point for portables, AT&T's access points, called WavePoint, basically tap into the wired network with a combination receiver and transmitter that allows the wired network to communicate with the wireless computers.

For the near future, experts believe, the trend in wireless technology will be for businesses to rely on combinations of wired and wireless networks. As prices fall and wireless proves itself, however, many of the wired networks are expected to switch to wireless technology.

"It's very early in the life cycle of the industry," Maestre said. "We're seeing more players in the market now, which means more competition, which will eventually bring down the prices." As the prices drop and the technology improves, he predicted, wireless networks could become as common as today's wired LANs.