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I am presently reading Tom Carpenter's CWNA official study guide. And I want to know the real life applications of FHSS and DSSS. Also I would like to know which is advisable to use and if there are differences that exist apart from 'hopping' (FHSS) and 'sticking' (DSSS). I need insights please.

FHSS is less susceptible to RF jamming that DHSS due to the frequency hoping. I'm personally not aware of any 802.11 applications using this spread spectrum technology any more. Probably because it was not designed for high bandwidth.

You won't find any companies building new FHSS hardware, although you will find some older gear on the web and at swapmeets.

At swapmeets it will be cheap, but good luck finding a second one that it will talk to. You might have serious trouble finding drivers too.

You can find bundles of them on the web occaisionally, but they will be selling for horrendous prices because the seller knows there are businesses still using them, and they have them over a barrel, untill they change them out. These will usually be a warehouse type application, as they were one of the first market sectors to adopt wireless.

Barcode scanners like those used in warehouses are low bandwidth devices, and even today most are, at best, b/g devices connected at b rates. Check out the WFA website for the few certified versions.

Another problem today is that they will almost always be PCMCIA cards, and few PC's are made with slots for these anymore. I have never seen a USB FHSS device, although you might find a USB 1.1 version.