Wireless LAN’s

What is a Wireless LAN?

A wireless local area network (WLAN) uses radio

frequency (RF) technology to transmit and
receive data over the air.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics

Engineers (IEEE) have established the IEEE
802.11 standard, which is the predominant
standard for wireless LANs.

Any LAN application, network operating system,

or protocol including TCP/IP, will run on 802.11-
compliant WLANs as they would over Ethernet.
 802.11 Specifications
802.11b 802.11g 802.11a
Compatibility IEEE 802.11b IEEE 802.11b and IEEE 802.11a
compliant. Wi-Fi 802.11g compliant. Wi-Fi compliant. Wi-Fi

Number of Channels 3 non- 3 non-overlapping 8 non-overlapping

overlapping (4 in some countries)
Typical Indoor 100 ft ( 30 m) @ 100 ft ( 30 m) @ 54 40 ft (12 m) @ 54
Range 11 MBps; 300 ft MBps; 300 ft (91 m) Mbps; 300 ft (91 m)
(91 m) @ 1 Mbps @ 6 Mbps
@ 1 Mbps
Typical Outdoor 400 ft (120 m) @ 400 ft (120 m) @ 54 100 ft (30m) @ 54
Range 11 Mbps; 1500 ft Mbps; 1500 ft (460 m) Mbps; 1000 ft (305m)
(Line of Sight) (460 m) @ 1 Mbps @ 6 Mbps
@ 1 Mbps

Data Rates 11, 5.5, 2 and 1 54, 48, 36, 24, 18, 12, 9, 54, 48, 36, 24, 18, 12,
Mbps and 6 Mbps 8, and 6 Mbps

Wireless Medium Direct Sequence Orthogonal Frequency Orthogonal Frequency

Spread (DSSS), Division Multiplexing Division Multiplexing
2.4 GHz (OFDM), 2.4 GHz (OFDM), 5 GHz
802.11 Standards

The WLAN standards began with the 802.11 standard,

developed in 1997 by the IEEE. This base standard
allowed data transmission of up to 2 Mbps. Over time,
this standard has been enhanced. These extensions are
recognized by the addition of a letter to the original
802.11 standard, such as 802.11b.

.
802.11 b

The 802.11b specification was ratified by

the IEEE in July 1999

Radio frequencies in the 2.4 to 2.497 GHz

bandwidth of the radio spectrum.

The modulation method selected for

802.11b is known as complementary direct
sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) using
complementary code keying (CCK)
making data speeds as high as 11 Mbps
802.11 a

802.11a operates at radio frequencies

between 5.15 and 5.875 GHz.

A modulation scheme known as

orthogonal frequency division
multiplexing (OFDM) makes data
speeds as high as 54 Mbps possible.
802.11 g

802.11g operates at radio frequencies in

the 2.4 GHz to 2.497 GHz range
(similar to 802.11b), it utilizes the same
Orthogonal Frequency Division
Multiplexing (OFDM ) modulation
allowing for throughput up to 54 Mbps
Network Requirements

The ease of setting up a WLAN is

contributing to its rapid adoption.
Reference the following checklist when
implementing a new WLAN or expanding
an existing WLAN.
•Hardware—WLAN consist of two
main building blocks including an
access point that connects to the
network and a wireless adapter
installed in the computing device.
•Access point—An access point is a
small box, usually with one or two
antennas. This radio-based,
receiver/transmitter is connected to
the wired LAN (or broadband
connection) using Ethernet cables.
•Antennas and bridges—Antennas
enhance the radio frequency
coverage extending the range of an
802.11 WLAN. Bridges provide point-
to-point wireless connection between
two LANs, like different floors.

•Wireless adapter—A wireless

adapter functions like a network
interface card (NIC) in that it allows
the client computing device access
to the network by means of the
wireless access point
Security

Basic Industry Standard Security: Built into

the 802.11b specification, WLAN may be
protected by:

•Service set identifier (SSID)—

A common key that identifies the WLAN.

Clients must be configured with the
correct SSID to access their WLAN. The
key should be shared only with those
having legitimate need to access the
network so broadcast of SSIDs should
be disabled. Also the SSID should be
changed periodically.
•Media access control (MAC)—

Filtering addresses restricts WLAN

access to computers that are on a
list you create for each access point
on your WLAN. This should be
enabled.
•Wired equivalent privacy

(WEP)—Encryption scheme that

protects WLAN data streams
between clients and APs as
specified by the 802.11 standard.
This should be turned on