Access on a wireless LAN

[Dennis]

Hi,

My boss want me to write an app where some of the users are connected to the
server via a wireless connection. Some times the connections are lost. We
are woking on determining why the connections are lost, but we do not have it
figured out yet.

My question is how dangerous is it implement an Access database over a
wireless LAN? There are 11 users, 5 are connected via cat5 and the rest are
wireless.

 

[John W. Vinson]

Hi,

My boss want me to write an app where some of the users are connected to the
server via a wireless connection. Some times the connections are lost. We
are woking on determining why the connections are lost, but we do not have it
figured out yet.

My question is how dangerous is it implement an Access database over a
wireless LAN? There are 11 users, 5 are connected via cat5 and the rest are
wireless.

It's an extremely BAD idea, and is almost certain to cause bad performance,
data loss, and corruption of the backend database. This corruption can totally
destroy the database. DON'T DO IT.

 

[AccessVandal via AccessMonster.com]

On second thought, maybe your boss is the pointy hair guy.

Any application will fail if there is a drop connection. Not an Access
problem.

 

[Linq Adams via AccessMonster.com]

Not an Access problem.
Not an Access ***caused*** problem, but as John has indicated, a very, very
BAD problem for Access databases!

 

[Dennis]

All,

Thank you for the information. Based upon your replys, I should be able to
change my bosses mind. Thanks once again.

 

[Dale Fye]

Tried this several years back. Did not turn out well.

Then moved the backend to SQL Server, and modified my code so that it did
not use any linked tables, and it worked fine. Required a lot of extra
coding, but, like you, a subset of our users only had wireless access, so
they thought it was worth the effort.

Probably would have been better as a web app, but neither I nor anyone else
in the organization had the necessary skill set at the time.

 

[Albert D. Kallal]

You can use a wireless, but you have to change how you do things.

I explain some workarounds here:

http://www.members.shaw.ca/AlbertKallal//Wan/Wans.html

 

[Tony Toews [MVP]]

Then moved the backend to SQL Server, and modified my code so that it did
not use any linked tables, and it worked fine.

Why did you modify the code to not use any linked tables?

Tony

 

[Dale Fye]

Tony

Just seemed like a prudent thing to do because of the problems I was having
with Access. At that point, I had only used SQL Server for a couple of very
small applications, all of which were on hard wired LANs, so, I was just
feeling my way around.

I started using disconnected recordsets to populate drop-downs and list
boxes, then retrieved only the minimum data necessary for the application to
run, one record at a time. It probably wasn't very elegant code, but if
functioned significantly faster than its Access-to-Access predecessor.

Dale

 

[Dennis]

Albert,

Thanks for the information on Share Point and Office Live. We are in the
process of upgrading to Office 2007. I'll have to look at the Access 2007 +
Share Point.


I thought of this as an alternative. Could I limit my data entry to
hardwired PCs on the network an do Inquire only and reports from my wireless
PC? Or does simply having an open connection that get broken screw things up?

 

[AccessVandal via AccessMonster.com]

Sounds like an invite to Aaron Kempf.

Not an Access ***caused*** problem, but as John has indicated, a very, very
BAD problem for Access databases!

 

[David W. Fenton]

Could I limit my data entry to
hardwired PCs on the network an do Inquire only and reports from
my wireless PC? Or does simply having an open connection that get
broken screw things up?

Why not host the app on a terminal server? If you have a Windows
server in place, it's pretty easy to add some RAM and buy the CALs
so you can host it on that box. It's safe, reliable and fast. It's
also much easier to administer, as you don't have to install the app
on all those workstations.

 

[John W. Vinson]

On Tue, 06 Oct 2009 01:52:08 GMT, "AccessVandal via AccessMonster.com"

Even a fanatic can be right in some cases.

 

[Dennis]

David,

Thanks for the idea. I've not setup a terminal server before, but I guess I
could learn. That is something I will have to investigate.

Thank you for your idea.

Dennis