IEEE 802.11 or Wi-Fi denotes a set of Wireless LAN standards developed by working group 11 of the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee (IEEE 802). The term is also used to refer to the original 802.11, which is now sometimes called "802.11legacy".

By Beth Cohen and Debbie Deutsch At the recent Boston 802.11 Planet Conference and Expo, the aisles and booths were bustling with activity, giving ample proof that Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity, or more properly, wireless networking) has finally come of age. The hardware gear venders 5; switch, carriers, integrators, chip manufacturers, and antenna 5; were...   Read Article.

By Jim Geier As an optional feature, the 802.11 standard includes the RTS/CTS (Request to Send/Clear to Send) function to control station access to the medium. Generally only the more costly, high-end wireless LANs offer RTS/CTS in radio network interface cards (NICs) and access points -- you won't find this on inexpensive home or SOHO products. Through...   Read Article.

By Jim Geier In the absence of adequate 802.11 security, quality of service, and roaming mechanisms, companies such as ReefEdge , Bluesocket , and Nomadix offer access control solutions to strengthen wireless LAN systems. The key component to these solutions is an access controller: hardware that resides on the wired portion of the network between the...   Read Article.

By Lisa Phifer Wireless LANs based on 802.11 Wi-Fi protocols are deceptively simple to install, but achieving optimum or even acceptable levels of security and performance can be tough. Many operators don't really know how their WLAN is being used, if outsiders are consuming WLAN resources, or whether fine-tuning could improve quality of service. Traditional...   Read Article.

by Matthew Gast , author of 802.11 Wireless Networks: The Definitive Guide 04/19/2002 If you're holding back on an 802.11 deployment because of security concerns, you're not alone. Research indicates that the perceived insecurity of wireless networks is a major inhibitor to further market growth. This short history of the security issues in...   Read Article.

by Matthew Gast author of 802.11 Wireless Networks: The Definitive Guide 10/17/2002 Related Reading 802.11 Wireless Networks: The Definitive Guide Creating and Administering Wireless Networks By Matthew Gast Table of Contents Index Sample Chapter Read Online--Safari Broadly speaking, wireless LAN security has two major issues. Authentication of network...   Read Article.

By Jim Geier With 802.11's optional WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy), all access points and client radio NICs on a particular wireless LAN must use the same encryption key. Each sending station encrypts the body of each frame with a WEP key before transmission, and the receiving station decrypts it using an identical key upon reception. This process reduces...   Read Article.

By Jim Geier Wireless LAN installation is tricky. Unlike wired networks, you can't visualize the wireless medium. The construction of a facility and silent sources of RF interference impact the propagation of radio waves, often in odd ways. This hinders your ability to plan the location of access points. How do you avoid these drawbacks? Perform...   Read Article.

By Jim Geier RF interference is still plaguing wireless LAN deployments. Many companies have gotten by without any problems, but some have installations that don't operate as well as planned. The perils of interfering signals from external RF sources are often the culprit. As a result, it's important that you're fully aware of RF interference...   Read Article.

By Jim Geier Last month we discussed how RF interference hinders the installation of wireless LANs, and we covered the use of site survey tools that help with deployments. Once you have the network installed, everything should continue to operate without any problems, right? Don't count on it! Unforeseen problems can drive you crazy Chances are...   Read Article.

By Jim Geier The security of a wireless LAN is very important, especially for applications hosting valuable information. For example, networks transmitting credit card numbers for verification or storing sensitive information are definitely candidates for emphasizing security. In these cases and others, proactively safeguard your network against security...   Read Article.

By Jim Geier Wireless LANs certainly provide the freedom of mobility as we use our laptops and PDAs without the constraints of network cabling. Of course to facilitate this benefit, we unplug our devices from AC power and operate them from batteries. As most of know, however, 802.11 network cards consume significant amounts of energy that drains batteries...   Read Article.

By Jim Geier The spectrum regulatory body of each country restricts signal power levels of various frequencies to accommodate needs of users and avoid RF interference . Most countries deem 802.11 wireless LANs as license free. In order to qualify for license free operation, however, the radio devices must limit power levels to relatively low values....   Read Article.

By Jim Geier Wireless LANs perform many functions, but the main idea is to move information from one point to another over an air medium. There are lots of networking protocols and physics that come into play to make this happen, but 802.11 data frames are responsible for getting the job done. Data Frame Basics An 802.11 data frame consists of a frame...   Read Article.

by Glenn Fleishman 04/05/2002 An alphabet soup of standards is about to overflow the boundaries of committee meetings and fill in the cracks in wireless networking. The IEEE 802.11 Working Group has been busy over the past year, moving several lettered task groups closer to ratification of standards for speed, scheduling, security, frequency coexistence,...   Read Article.

By Jim Geier When analyzing or troubleshooting the operation of a wireless LAN, you ll likely be using an 802.11 packet analyzer (e.g., AiroPeek or Sniffer Wireless ) to monitor the communications between radio network interface cards (NICs) and access points. After capturing the packets, you need to understand the different 802.11 frame types as a...   Read Article.

By Jim Geier In June 1997, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers ( IEEE ) finalized the initial standard for wireless LANs, IEEE 802.11. This standard specified a 2.4GHz operating frequency with data rates of 1 and 2Mbps. When deploying a wireless LAN using the initial version of 802.11, you could opt for using frequency hopping spread...   Read Article.

by Matthew Gast , author of 802.11 Wireless Networks: The Definitive Guide 05/24/2002 Before you uncrate one piece of network equipment for a mass deployment, you need to have the right design in place. Good network design is often the difference between a successful rollout and a torrent of user complaints. Many organizations are now considering deployment...   Read Article.

By Jim Geier As discussed in a previous tutorial , 802.11 wired equivalent privacy (WEP) has weaknesses, making it inadequate for protecting networks containing sensitive information. WEP does a fairly good job of defending against the general public, but there are some good hackers lurking out there who can crack into a WEP-protected network. As a...   Read Article.

By Jim Geier The 802.11 standard specifies a common medium access control (MAC) Layer, which provides a variety of functions that support the operation of 802.11-based wireless LANs. In general, the MAC Layer manages and maintains communications between 802.11 stations (radio network cards and access points) by coordinating access to a shared radio...   Read Article.