Project On Wi-fi

Introduction Wireless LAN is a networking technology that allows the connection of computers without any wires and cables, mostly using radio and infrared frequency (RF) technology. It's called LAN because the range targets within an office, a building, a store, a small campus, or just a house. The description of Wi-Fi is a mobile data communication connectivity system installed and configured as an alternative in some cases for traditional LAN. The Wi-Fi equipment is capable of receiving and sending data over an adequate range. In the United States, the WLAN business is increasing in areas like the airports, health-care, warehousing and manufactures. Several research companies are predicting a healthy increase in WLAN business market in the coming years. The WLAN provides advantages over traditional LAN technology such as buried cables in the ground, hidden cables behind walls, and long cable runs measured in feet or miles. Without restrictions, the new technology infrastructure can easily be installed and ready to be used. Current growth concerning network communication technology in the enterprise communication environment has resulted in widespread deployment of numerous products that cover only a small part of the total mobile and WLAN infrastructure required. The WLAN industry has experienced phenomenal increase over the past ten years. The U.S. wireless industry posted revenue of $40 DAFFODILS Wi-Fi

billion in 1999, according to the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association, and employed 156,000 workers (Palazzo, 2002). Most manufacturer companies offer WLAN equipment to improve field productivity, increase customer approval and reduce operational costs by shifting the way field workers and dispatchers perform their jobs.

• DEFINITION

Wi-Fi (short form of "wireless fidelity") is a term for certain types of wireless local area network (WLAN) that use specifications in the 802.11 family. The term WiFi was created by an organization called the Wi-Fi Alliance, which oversees tests that certify product interoperability. A product that passes the alliance tests is given the label "Wi-Fi certified" (a registered trademark). Originally, Wi-Fi certification was applicable only to products using the 802.11b standard. Today, Wi-Fi can apply to products that use any 802.11 standard. The 802.11 specifications are part of an evolving set of wireless network standards known as the 802.11 family. The particular specification under which a Wi-Fi network operates is called the "flavor" of the network. Wi-Fi has gained acceptance in many businesses, agencies, schools, and homes as an alternative to a wired LAN. Many DAFFODILS Wi-Fi

airports, hotels, and fast-food facilities offer public access to Wi-Fi networks. These locations are known as hot spots. Many charge a daily or hourly rate for access, but some are free. An interconnected area of hot spots and network access points is known as a hot zone. Unless adequately protected, a Wi-Fi network can be susceptible to access by unauthorized users who use the access as a free Internet connection. The activity of locating and exploiting security-exposed wireless LANs is called war driving. An identifying iconography, called war chalking, has evolved. Any entity that has a wireless LAN should use security safeguards such as the Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption standard, the more recent Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), Internet Protocol Security (IPsec), or a virtual private network (VPN).

HISTORY OF WI-FI Back in 1991 Wi-Fi was invented by NCR Corporation/AT&T (later on Lucent & Agere Systems) in DAFFODILS Wi-Fi

Nieuwegein, the Netherlands. Initially meant for cashier systems the first wireless products were brought on the market under the name Wave LAN with speeds of 1Mbps/2Mbps. Vic Hayes who is the inventor of Wi-Fi has been named 'father of Wi-Fi' and was with his team involved in designing standards such as IEEE 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g. In 2003, Vic retired from Agere Systems. Agere Systems suffered from strong competition in the market even though their products were cutting edge, as many opted for cheaper Wi-Fi solutions. Agere's 802.11abg all-in-one chipset (code named: WARP) never hit the market, Agere Systems decided to quit the Wi-Fi market in late 2004.

How to Use Wi-Fi Using default settings, a wireless router allows anyone with any knowledge to easily connect to your network and use your internet connection and do what they will with your computers. But there are safe ways to use these devices. Enabling encryption, turning off ssid broadcasting, Mac addresses filtering, and changing your router's password is a must. High speed internet is a must. Buy the wireless router and any other necessary devices to connect to the router, such as PCMCIA cards for laptops, USB devices, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, etc. STEPS DAFFODILS Wi-Fi

1. Make sure your internet connection is working directly from your internet connection modem prior to connecting your router. 2. Hook your router up as per instructions. Any wired computers will plug into the LAN connections and one cable will go to the modem. 3. Log into the router using a wired computer with the ip address that is provided in the manual. Most are 192.168.0.1. Inputting this address in your browser's address window should get you there. Default login is "admin”, passwords vary, so check your book. 4. Turn on WPA-PSK encryption so that the data from your computer is encrypted and not visible by your neighbor. 5. Change the default router access password so that only you can logon. 6. Turn off SSID broadcasting as this tells anyone passing by with a wireless device that you have a connection available; also name SSID what you want. You will use this name when connecting from your wireless device. 7. Mac address filtering allows only your computer(s) to connect to your network so enable this as well. Finding your Mac address of your network device(s) is done by starting a command prompt window and typing "ipconfig/all" without the quotes. DAFFODILS Wi-Fi

8. Click enable Mac address filtering, then type your computer's Mac addresses in and save. 9. WAN connection type will most likely be set to DHCP and should work fine at this setting for most applications. 10. Fire up your computer with the wireless device installed....You did type the Mac address for this device, right? Start wireless setup wizard in WindowsXP and it will walk you through connecting to your router. Use manual settings and check the box for WPA at the bottom. Remember that wpa-psk key/password you made earlier? You will input it here. SSID name will also be entered here. 11.

If you have more than 1 computer and you would like to enable share files, click start my network places then if you are using a Windows XP, on the side toolbar click "set up a home or small office network" and follow the steps with every computer 12.

13. If all went smoothly you will now be able to safely connect wirelessly.

Advantages of Wi-Fi One of the most prevalent advantages of Wi-Fi wireless LAN technologies is that it is completely wirefree. Now, if you want to sit in one of your comfort zones in you house, such as a couch or in your yard, you can DAFFODILS Wi-Fi

carry your laptop with you and still be able to access the internet. These days, if you buy a new laptop, a built-in Wi-Fi card will allow you automatic allowance of use. (Brain) A second advantage is becoming increasingly popular: hotspots. Instead of having to be constricted to your home wired/wireless Local Area Network (LAN), you can now enjoy the advantages of the Internet in public places such as lobbies, cafes, universities, hotels, airports, and many other common areas. Wi-Fi also supports roaming: you can walk around a building from one access point to another. A third advantage of Wi-Fi is the ability for 802.11b and 802.11g to frequency hop. This process allows the 802.11b and 802.11g cards to transmit themselves on any of three bands, or splitting the radio bandwidth into channels and 'hop' between them. (Brain) This enables the Wi-Fi cards to talk at the same time without interference. The fourth advantage I know of is the development of the Wi-Fi Alliance (formerly WECA). This association is formed with more than 200 member companies whose business it is to test and certify the interoperability of WLAN products, making sure they are based solely on the IEEE 802.11 specifications. (Wi-Fi Alliance, What) You also must remember that Wi-Fi products are widely distributed, and an easy technology to use.

Disadvantages Of Wi-Fi Even though WiFi products are useful, there are still some downfalls that must be stated in order to get a firm DAFFODILS Wi-Fi

grasp on exactly what WiFi wireless LAN technologies are composed of. As Morely points out, "Wi-Fi is designed for medium-range data transfers, and most versions of 802.11 work up to about 250-300 feet away from the access point indoors, and about 1,000 feet away outdoors."(341) Yes, and with more distance between your computer/laptop and the access point, the speed and the quality falters tremendously. It also doesn't help when there is interference from microwaves or cordless phones which use the same frequency that 802.11g and 802.11b use: 2.4 GHz. Another disadvantage for WiFi products is their security system. The Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is the common wireless encryption standard which is easily broken even when configured accurately. (Wikipedia, WiFi) To counteract this problem, however, Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) has been established.

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Equipment Cost •

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An analysis reveals savings can be measured in terms of equipment cost for WLAN compared to what customarily is in used for wired LAN connection. In order for two customers to communicate over the wired network, the following are required for installation, network cable installation with, data drop ($500), PC LAN card ($50), a hub ($100), small router ($2,500), a network T1 modem ($1,300), and cable conduit between customer buildings, bringing the total to $9,000. For the WLAN, connecting two customers to a LAN, the total cost is not more than $7,000 that to include the bridge 100Mw output ($1,400), ceiling antenna ($82.00), 11Mbps DSSS AP ($990) and cable ($120). The big savings is that there is no need to open a trench to bury network cable beneath the ground, quick installation, and can easily to be removed, see table 1 on equipment cost, range and performance for three types of WLAN equipment. The relatively high cost of transmission equipment and licenses makes short wave radio a rare method for a signal user or company; instead, companies are formed to purchase and maintain the required licenses and infrastructure. •

Wi-Fi USERS

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With Wi-Fi, it is possible to create high-speed wireless local area networks, provided that the computer to be connected is not too far from the access point. In practice, Wi-Fi can be used to provide high-speed connections (11 Mbps or greater) to laptop computers, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and any other devices located within a radius of several dozen metres indoors (in general 20m-50m away) or within several hundred metres outdoors. Wi-Fi providers are starting to blanket areas that have a high concentration of users (like train stations, airports, and hotels) with wireless networks. These access areas are called "hot spots".

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The various Wi-Fi standards

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The IEEE 802.11 standard is actually only the earliest standard, allowing 1-2 Mbps of bandwidth. Amendments have be made to the original standard in order to optimise bandwidth (these include the 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g standards, which are called 802.11 physical standards) or to better specify components in order to ensure improved security or compatibility. This table shows the various amendments to the 802.11 standard and their significance:

Name of standard

802.11a

Name

Wifi5

802.11b WiFi

Description The 802.11a standard (called WiFi 5) allows higher bandwidth (54 Mbps maximum throughput, 30 Mbps in practice). The 802.11a standard provides 8 radio channels in the 5 GHz frequency band. The 802.11b standard is currently the most widely used one. It offers a maximum thoroughput of 11 Mbps (6 Mbps in practice) and a reach of up to 300 metres in an open environment. It uses the 2.4

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GHz frequency range, with 3 radio channels available.

802.11c

The 802.11c bridging standard is of no interest to the general public. It is only Bridging 802.11 and an amended version of the 802.1d 802.1d standard that lets 802.1d bridge with 802.11compatible devices (on the data link level).

The 802.11d standard is a supplement to the 802.11 standard which is meant to allow international use of local 802.11 networks. It lets 802.11d Internationalisation different devices trade information on frequency ranges depending on what is permitted in the country where the device is from. 802.11e

Improving service quality

The 802.11e standard is meant to improve the quality of service at the level of the data link layer. The standard's goal is to define the requirements of different packets in terms of bandwidth and transmission delay so as to allow better transmission of voice and

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video.

802.11f

Roaming

The 802.11f is a recommendation for access point vendors that allows products to be more compatible. It uses the InterAccess Point Roaming Protocol, which lets a roaming user transparently switch from one access point to another while moving around, no matter what brands of access points are used on the network infrastructure. This ability is also simply called roaming.

How Wi-Fi Useful In Communication? Wireless technologies have played a major role in opening up internet access — and thus the ability to communicate with others in remote locations — to more people in more places. DAFFODILS Wi-Fi

As communication methods converge, Wi-Fi makes it easier for you to access email, instant messages, faxes, voicemail and VoIP calls from a common interface — no matter where you might be. Higher bandwidth and greater reliability (such as that offered by the new 802.11n standards) make voice over wireless LAN (VoWLAN) feasible. Of course, with conventional 802.11 wireless, the transmission range can limit the usefulness. But 802.16 (WiMax) greatly expands that range, making wireless a viable 'last-mile' broadband option that will compete with cable and DSL. More and more products are coming onto the market that allow you to integrate wireless technologies into your unified communications strategy.

Why / Where Should We Use Wi-Fi The Wi-Fi LAN has a broad application nowadays. Because of the comfortable and quick installation people often replace old wired LANs with Wi-Fi. Such connection allows to move your machine around the place without losing the Internet or other network resources. Working on your laptop you can check your mail from anywhere in DAFFODILS Wi-Fi

your home or office. Some highly attended places like airports, libraries, schools or even coffee bars offer you constant Internet connection using exactly wireless LAN, so retrieving new files, cruising the global network or corresponding with others will not be a problem anymore in those (and many other) places. The most important shortcoming in Wi-Fi is the range. So far we may have difficulties in making a connection with a receiver which is more than 50-75 meters away (inside the buildings). The signal should be stronger to provide larger connectable spaces. Additionally, some of the wireless adapters works on the frequencies that are currently used by many other wireless devices. It can cause a serious interference, so the connection performance can be quite poor. However, building Wi-Fi network is often the cheapest way to achieve the desired connection with the surroundings. The price of a single wireless adapter is decreasing almost every day, so making a large network area by means of Wi-Fi is the most reasonable way. You will not need to arrange all the wires around and profit by the installation time. By the way, most of the Wi-Fi adapters have user-friendly configuration and diagnostic tools which can help you to adjust or change your WLAN settings or even can do everything for you.

Security What about the security? Is there a possibility of stealing our data? Security is your personal decision, but DAFFODILS Wi-Fi

having a wireless connection we should pay attention to protect our private files and encrypt sent messages. Actually, the security modules were very important since the beginning of the Wi-Fi projection. In order to prevent intercepting your data by the others the designers implemented many security techniques, like Wi-Fi Protected Access (based on encryption), Virtual Private Network (making virtual "tunnels"), Media Access Control Filtering (rejecting unknown MAC addresses), RADIUS Authentication and Authorization (using login and password) or Kerberos (key distribution). There is also a possibility to combine some of these security mechanisms making your transmissions even more secure. On the other hand providing such security in public places (like Internet cafes) may not meet its expectations. Connecting to protected wireless network you will be asked about a security code, encryption key or a password. If you do not know them, you will not be able to establish a communication link and use Internet resources. Most of public areas do not use security modules because of that reason making Wi-Fi users data unsafe.

DAFFODILS Wi-Fi

TOPIC:

DAFFODILS Wi-Fi

SUB:

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

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Index

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topic introduction history How to use wi-fI Advantages of wi-fi Disadvantages of wi-fi Equipment cost Wi-fi users The various wi-fi standard How wi-fi useful in communication Why/where should we use wi-fi

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