Wireless Networking

Wireless Local Area Networks A wireless local area network (LAN) is a flexible data communications system implemented as an extension to, or as an alternative for, a wired LAN. It uses radio frequency (RF) technology, to transmit and receive data over the air, minimizing the need for wired connections. A wireless LAN system can combine data connectivity with user mobility. The data to be transmitted is modulated onto the radio waves, called carriers, and then are removed from the carriers at the other end by what is called a transceiver. End users in a wireless local area network access the network through adapters such as PC cards in laptop notebook computers.

The only real complaint that we heard about Wi-Fi is that there are security issues. Hackers have been known to drive around accessing people’s wireless networks. So security is an issue. One way to deal with security is to use WEP (wired equivalent privacy). This technology allows us to use wireless and still have some of the same protection as with a wired network.

LOCAL AREA NETWORK (LAN) <>INTRODUCTION<> Local Area Network is a computer network connecting computers within a small area or places. LAN size is limited to a few kilometres. More than one LAN can be connected to one another by using telephone lines or through radio waves. LAN has higher data transfer rates. LAN is built in with inexpensive hardware such as Ethernet cables, network adapters and hubs.

1 Introduction Wireless computing is the topic of much conversation today. The concept has been around for some time now but has been mainly utilizing communication protocols that exist for voice based communication. It is not intended to replace wired data communication but instead to be utilized in areas that it would be otherwise impossible to communicate using wires. Only recently has the industry been taking steps to formulate a standard that is more suitable to data transmission. Some the problems to be overcome are: (1) Data Integrity - relatively error free transmission, (2) Speed - as close as possible to the speed of current wired networks, (3) Protection - making sure that the data now airborne is encoded and cannot be tapped by unwelcome receivers, (4) Compatibility - ensuring that the many protocols that sure to be created subscribe to a standard to allow inter-operability, (5) Environmentally safe - strengths of electromagnetic radiation must be kept within normal levels.

Wireless Networking Basics According to (Vacca, JR 2006) The term wireless networking means the technology that facilitates two or more computers to communicate using standard network protocols, but without network cabling. It was not a long time ago that computers were a luxury rather than a necessity. Having compu... ... middle of paper ... ...network server are kept by KDC. 4.5 PEAP, LEAP and EAP PEAP is developed by RSA security, Cisco and Microsoft. PEAP allow safe data transfer, transport of encryption keys and passwords without involving certificate from server.

The latest advances in WiFi technology provide robust protection and allow you to ensure that your data are easily accessible through the wireless LAN network only to authorized persons. • Cost: a wireless LAN network operating costs are relatively low, with a reduction or even a deletion of the costs of wiring when the reconfigurations, extensions or removals of offices.

Normally the range of any wireless access point is few meters, however as it work on microware, the range reduces with any kind of obstacles such as wall. If used in open area, the range could be extended. There are range extenders as well which are available in market. These range extenders combination of two devices, which is wireless client and wireless router or access point. They receive the signals of one access point and transmit the same thus enhancing the range of network.

All you need is a couple of plug N’ Play NIC cards, a hub, some cables, some minimal software Traditional wired networks may be the fastest way of moving data between computers, but this product's dependence on a cable (which is a bit thicker than a standard telephone wire) that can clutter and be a problem. You have to be able to string it where people won't trip over it and unless you can hide it, it will add little to your decor. Also, you need to find a location for the hub that's central to the networked PCs and has available AC power. Depending on the distance between your networked PCs, you might also need longer cables. Fortunately, Ethernet cabling is widely available.

Switches are similar with bridges, but usually contain multiple ports. The packet that comes through a switch is read to decide for which node the data was send to. In this way, the efficiency is that packets are sent only to the computers that require them. Collisions along the way are reduced significantly using switchers instead of bridges in networks. Switchers have the ability to create VLANSs (Virtual LAN).

The paper focuses on the Logical link control(LLC) part of the link layer without taking into account improvements that can be made at the Medium access control(MAC) part to reduce non-congestion related errors. A major reason why Ethernet provides better performance is due to a robust collision detection mechanism called carrier sense multiple access(CSMA) with collision detection(CD). This layer prevents hosts from transmitting simultaneously on the channel resulting in damaged frames. So it doesn't allow damaged packets to propagate up the stack and cause unnecessary retransmissions at the LLC layer which can interfere with TCP retransmissions. We know that collision detection is harder in wireless networks due to the “hidden-terminal” problem.