Wireless Network Project

Wireless Network Research project Table of Contents: Abstract…………...…………………………………………………………………….. 3 Introduction………………...…………………………………………………...............3 How it started?………………...…………………………………………………..…....3 The wireless networks components...………………………………………….…......5 Wireless Network Technology: Overview and Applications ………………..…..….5 Types of Wireless Networks………………………………...………………………....9 Comparing Wireless LAN with Wireless WAN…………….………………………..15 Wireless Standards………………………………………….………………………...17 IEEE standard 802.11………………………………………………………………...17 Architecture of IEEE 802.11 standard…………………………………………....…18 The independent BSS as an ad hoc network…………………………………...….18 The IEEE 802.11 subsets…………………………………………………...………..19 IEEE standard 802.15………………………………………………………………...20 IEEE standard 802.16………………………………………………………………...21 Wireless Home……………………………………………………………….………..21 Wireless Mesh Network……………………………………………………….………23 Wireless Networks Software………………………………………………………….26 Wireless Networks Security…………………………………………………………..29 Societal Implications of Wireless Connectivity………………………………..……32 The Politics of Wireless Networking…………………………………………………33 Conclusion .………………………………………………………………..…………. 35 References………………………...……………………………………….…………..36 Abbreviations List…………………………………………………………..……….…39 Glossary ………………………………………………………………..………………40

2 | Page Abstraction Undoubtedly, Wireless networks are changing the way people connect to each other and that very fast. This kind of networks has become popular since the first days of introduction and use. I believe that this was our primary reason, why we as a team have chosen this topic as our Research Project. Through him (RP), we think to cover some important details and necessary things which have to know everyone who thinks to use this kind of network. The Project includes an introduction part and overview; skip through general types of wireless networks and their applications to wireless standards, to later on continue with wireless software and also with the wireless security. Our idea was to cover also the impact of this new technology in the modern world and changes made. With the paper, comes everything which fulfils normal Research Project standards. We suppose that time spent on reading it, wont be a wasted time.

Introduction Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Arthur C. Clark If you want to make a call from your mobile, if you want to check your email from your PDA, if you want to receive a message in your pager, if you want to make data portable and if you don’t want to have cable problems than all you need is WIRELESS NETWORK.

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How it started? Wireless Network started as a research project of the University of Hawaii. It has been surprisingly around for a little over 30 years. In Hawaii Islands, people there needed a wireless network to connect universities in 4 Islands. The result of the researchers was Alohanet which was predecessor of nowadays WLAN. Even that Alohanet it was a mess of networks it still reached the goal and achieved data transmission 1-2Mbps which was very impressive for that time. Over the last couple of years Wireless Network has begun to see various incremental enhancements and adaptations to the protocol as it grows to meet industry’s needs 1. Wireless technologies are increasingly becoming popular in our everyday lives. Government agencies, public places, businesses are using it more and more in their environment. Devices commonly used for wireless networking include portable computers, desktop computers, hand-held computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), cellular phones, pen-based computers, and pagers. You may also ask why wireless instead of wired networks? Because in the simplest sense wired networks are for communication between fixed locations and wireless is for communication between devices, so this means that we are not anymore dependable on the location. Also the air is free so why don’t we use it… So, as we said the basic idea behind the wireless network is network connections without wires. Less wiring means greater flexibility, portability, increased efficiency, and reduced wiring costs. Wireless technologies cover a broad range of differing capabilities oriented toward different uses and needs. They range from global voice and data networks, which allow users to establish wireless connections across long distances, to infrared light and radio frequency technologies that are optimized for short-range wireless connections.

1

Introduction to 802.11 Wireless Networks standard; CyberScience laboratory; May 2003

3 | Page Components of Wireless Networks (as we can see from the configuration in the figure 1 2) are all directly replacing the common wired network components one per one where wireless network card replaces the wired network card; radio waves replaces Ethernet cabling, plugs and jacks and a wireless network access point unit replaces the Ethernet hub.

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Fig 1. Wired network components replaced by wireless network component This figure contains the simplest network configuration and it doesn’t show the network addressing and configuration details-IP addresses, gateways, DNS etc.

2

Aspinwall,Jim Installing, troubleshooting and repairing wireless networks USA 2003:McGraw-Hill

4 | Page The wireless networks components It is consisted of two types of equipment: - Wireless station (it can be laptop, notebook personal computer, desktop PC, PDA, barcode scanner etc) - Access point (it functions as a base station for wireless network, aggregating multiple wireless stations onto wired network. Theoretical ranges for wireless LAN 802.11 are from 29 meters (for 11 Mbps) in a closed office area to 485 meters (for 1 Mbps) in an open area. However, through empirical analysis, the typical range for connectivity of 802.11 equipment is approximately 50 meters (about 163 ft.) indoors. A range of 400 meters, nearly ¼ mile, makes WLAN the ideal technology for many campus applications. It is important to recognize that special high-gain antennas can increase the range to several miles. 3

Figure 2. Typical Range of 802.11 WLAN Use of Wireless Networks in real-life Wireless networks can be used anywhere. Its very useful in university campuses where students can sit under the tree and read mail or search library for books, it is of great value to fleets of trucks, taxis, delivery vehicles, and repairpersons for keeping in contact with home, are also important to the military, wireless parking meters, important use also is for food, drink, and other vending machines … Once you begin using wireless data, you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.

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Wireless Network Technology: Overview and Applications It is obvious that Wireless Networks are making a big mess for the other and older kind of networking technologies. Researches try to make that kind of connection even more secure, which is another thing that does wireless technology to proliferate as a fire. So, making a wireless networks from a side of the biggest cities in the world it is not accidentally.

3

Karygiannis,Tom ; Owens.Les ;Wireless Network Security 802.11, Bluetooth and Handheld Devices Gaithersburg,November 2002.

5 | Page “A New York Times article (Scheisel, 2005) recently reported that more than 10 million homes in the United States employ a wireless router to access the Internet, up from virtually none in the year 2000. Legislative battles rage over the right of municipalities to provide free or inexpensive wireless Internet access to citizens. The technology to support wireless networking continues to evolve at a rapid pace, promising that faster, cheaper, more pervasive wireless computing solutions will be available to businesses and consumers who will require always-on, seamless, wireless computing experiences. Wireless networks clearly offer an array of advantages over traditional wired networking solutions to users in all types of networks and industries. These advantages include mobility, ease of installation, reduced cost of ownership and scalability, which in turn lead to increased productivity and interpersonal communication.” 4 In this project will be discussed in deeper way about the history, types of wireless networks, their applications, the standards used today for this kind of network. We won’t forget also to mention something about the security aspect, which is one of the unpleasant sides for the wireless technology. This paper will also outline an interesting part which deals with installing, troubleshooting and possible repairing of the network. WPAN “WPAN technologies enable users to establish ad hoc, wireless communications for devices (such as PDAs, cellular phones, or laptops) that are used within a personal operating space (POS). A POS is the space surrounding a person, up to a distance of 10 meters. Currently, the two key WPAN technologies are Bluetooth and infrared light. Bluetooth is a cable replacement technology that uses radio waves to transmit data to a distance of up to 30 feet. Bluetooth data can be transferred through walls, pockets, and briefcases. Technology development for Bluetooth is driven by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), which published the Bluetooth version 1.0 specification in 1999. Alternatively, to connect devices at a very close range (1 meter or less), users can create infrared links. To standardize the development of WPAN technologies, IEEE has established the 802.15 working group for WPANs. This working group is developing a WPAN standard, based on the Bluetooth version 1.0 specification. Key goals for this draft standard are low complexity, low power consumption, interoperability, and coexistence with 802.11 networks.” 5

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WLAN At this point in time, wireless connectivity solutions can be grouped into three main categories. All three use Radio Frequency (RF) technology to transmit data through the air. The first category, wireless local area networking (WLAN), transmits data between a wired network and a mobile user or users (Types, 2005). Its origins lie in the encrypted radio signals sent by allied operatives across enemy lines during World War II. Referred to as “spread spectrum technology,” the wartime messages paved the way for the first computational wireless network, which was created in 1971 at the University of Hawaii. The project, called ALOHNET, had seven computers set up on four islands communicating with one central computer on Oahu, none of them using phone lines (Bautts, 2005). In a modern-day example of WLAN technology, businesses commonly issue network-connected laptops with wireless cards to their employees to replace desktop computers. This allows their employees to be productive anywhere within the bounds of the corporate network. It also encourages collaboration by giving them the ability to form ad hoc work groups. In certain situations, it can provide employees with incentives to use their computers at home or in coffee shops, where they may do work outside of traditional work hours. In this case, because the employees’ work time seeps into their leisure time, a perceived benefit for the 4

H. Nodler, A World Without Wires: The future of Wireless Networking, Knowledge Management Systems, Dr. Don Turnbull, May 3, 2005 5 http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServer/en/Library/f2552467-f693-4c14-b42149cb2491bb361033.mspx?mfr=true

6 | Page employee (the use of a computer with wireless capabilities) becomes a very real benefit for the employer. Wireless LANs operate using a transceiver device to send and receive data. This device, also referred to as an “access point,” connects the computers on the wireless network to a wired network. The computers are equipped with wireless networking devices, which come standard on many laptop and handheld computers now. Each access point ensures connection to the network within a radius of anywhere from 100 to several hundred feet. Access points are strategically placed across a network area so that connection areas overlap and users can travel between them without interruption of service, a process called “roaming.” (Proxim, 1998) Several different protocols exist for wireless local area networking; all approved by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Together, LAN protocols have been assigned the numerical grouping 802. They are then broken down into further groupings. 802.11b (Wireless Fidelity commonly referred to as “WiFi”) is the standard used by most WLANs today. A new standard 802.16 (WiMax) is currently being developed to provide connectivity with a 30-mile radius around each access point.” WMAN WMAN technologies enable users to establish wireless connections between multiple locations within a metropolitan area (for example, between multiple office buildings in a city or on a university campus), without the high cost of laying fiber or copper cabling and leasing lines. In addition, WMANs can serve as backups for wired networks, should the primary leased lines for wired networks become unavailable. WMANs use either radio waves or infrared light to transmit data. Broadband wireless access networks, which provide users with high-speed access to the Internet, are in increasing demand. Although different technologies, such as the multichannel multipoint distribution service (MMDS) and the local multipoint distribution services (LMDS), are being used, the IEEE 802.16 working group for broadband wireless access standards is still developing specifications to standardize development of these technologies. WWAN WWAN technologies enable users to establish wireless connections over remote public or private networks. These connections can be maintained over large geographical areas, such as cities or countries, through the use of multiple antenna sites or satellite systems maintained by wireless service providers. Current WWAN technologies are known as second-generation (2G) systems. Key 2G systems include Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD), and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). Efforts are under way to transition from 2G networks, some of which have limited roaming capabilities and are incompatible with each other, to third-generation (3G) technologies that would follow a global standard and provide worldwide roaming capabilities. The ITU is actively promoting the development of a global standard for 3G.

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Below is a table indicating the range that wireless data networks can handle:

Meters

Network

0-10

Personal Area Network

0-100

Local Area Network

0-10000

Wide Area Network Table 1. Wireless range

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Wireless Mesh Network “In a mesh network, the wireless connection extends not only to client computers, such as wireless laptops, but between other network nodes. This is in contrast with a typical wireless local area network, where the client computers connect wirelessly to an access point but that device is in turn plugged into the wired corporate network. The connection between the local area network and a larger corporate network or the Internet is known as the "backhaul."“ 6 Connectivity and Bandwidth In 1985, the FCC made segments of the bandwidth spectrum available for use by certain telecommunications devices without a license. The unregulated spectrum was known as the ISM (Industrial, Scientific and Medical) bands, and the FCC recently added to the unregulated a spectrum 300 MHz of additional bandwidth. This dedicated free bandwidth ensures that anyone adhering to pre-set standards of power and technologies applied can reap the benefits of wireless connectivity without having to obtain a license or pay fees. Future WLAN Applications Wireless connectivity has to a great extent changed the way we live, and it promises to do so increasingly. Currently, WLANs allow employees in organizations to carry out their duties and remain constantly connected to a network, where they can retrieve, and exchange and store information. Doctors and nurses in hospitals frequently carry handheld devices connected to the hospital’s WLAN to record and download vital patient information to and from the network. (Proxim, 1998) Students on college campuses tote laptop computers from class to class, remaining constantly connected to the Internet, and supplementing their classroom educations. WLANs are also increasingly employed to establish voice connections between users with Voiceover Internet Protocol (VoIP), which transmits voice data across the Internet in data packets. The appeal of VoIP is that since most providers charge a flat monthly rate, calls can be connected without incurring long-distance fees. This can provide a very cost-effective solution to users who routinely make international calls. Voice-over WiFi (VoWiFi) combines VoIP with wireless networking technology. Using a PDA or a laptop computer equipped with a wireless card and Internet telephony software, a user can make a telephone call over a wireless network. One advantage of this technology over traditional cellular phone technology is improved connection quality indoors or underground. Some cellular phone companies have developed hybrid telephones that operate using VoWiFi most of the time but can switch to a regular cellular connection if the user happens to move out of the LAN area. (Beal, 2005)

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Future WPAN Applications The possibilities of WPAN extend beyond the ability to sync one’s Palm Pilot to a desktop without wires. Currently, the Bluetooth protocol is being applied in the development of pervasive computing solutions for the home. In the very near future, the majority of people may use a Bluetooth-enabled wireless connection and a personal controller to access or remotely control many “intelligent” devices, such as handheld computers, mobile telephones, cars, kitchen appliances, home lighting systems, etc., which can detect users’ changing locations and respond to their needs accordingly (WPAN, 2005) Developers are working on a generation of wearable devices that will perform functions such as allowing the wearer to input data without using a keyboard or mouse, or monitoring the wearer’s vital statistics. These applications, together with home and office pervasive computing, could save time and be of tremendous help to people with illnesses or disabilities. Wireless Standards 6

http://www.baselinemag.com/print_article2/0,1217,a=159982,00.asp

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The developing generations of wireless technology we believe that will have soon access to an unprecedented breadth of wireless standards. Those should increase the range, speed, and quality of wireless connectivity. A specific topic deals about those standards in general, and the most known of them. Wireless software To manage the hardware of the new wireless technology, we need some tools that would indirect those tools to us. As the number and type of wireless devices increase to networks, the need for their management and control is a priority. This part deals with this middleware, as an important part of using the wireless network. Wireless Security Wireless security is a discussable topic, which should be one of the primary concerns of the every networks administration. Mechanisms are a lot, but if they are playing the real role and providing the needed security protection, is a topic that should be explained later on.

Conclusion We live in exciting times, when hosts of emerging wireless technologies promise radical change in our modes of perception, interaction, democratic participation, and time and information management. As new technology is developed, we will witness even greater change, which hopefully will benefit society, rather than harm it. In the meantime, we have an obligation to approach that technology with a certain degree of criticality.

Types of Wireless Networks Till now we have mentioned what our project will consist and we have described their essence. Now we are going to explain things more detailed. In this project we will discus about 5 wireless networks categories:

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1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

System interconnection (Bluetooth) Wireless PANs Wireless LANs Wireless MANs Wireless WANs

System interconnection is all about interconnecting the components of a computer using short-range radio7. A personal area network (PAN) is A PAN is a subset of a wireless LAN, it is a computer network used for communication among computer devices including telephones and personal digital assistants close to one person. The reach of a PAN is typically a few meters. PANs can be used for communication among the personal devices themselves, or for connecting to a higher level network and the Internet.8 Now that we explain what PAN is we can continue with the Wireless PAN which is tone of the objective of this research paper. 7

Tanenbaum, Andrew S; Computer Networks

8

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_PAN

9 | Page A wireless PAN is a collection of mobile devices that make up a “piconet” (tiny network), typically located in one room. The PAN replaces the wires that would normally connect one piece of equipment to another9. So, Wireless PAN can be made possible via IrDA and Bluetooth. Bluetooth is a personal area network (PAN) standard and is the most common WPAN technology. It is a low power, short range, two-way wireless communication network. Its goal is to connect components without wires. Bluetooth, the new technology was named after the 10th Century Danish King Harold Bluetooth. It was designed to allow low bandwidth wireless connections to become so simple to use that they seamlessly integrate into our daily life. The Bluetooth specification is an open specification that is governed by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) 10. Intel, IBM, Toshiba, Nokia, and Ericsson formed the SIG GROUP in 1998. It’s a great opportunity if we want to connect scanners, digital cameras, headsets, mobile phones etc by only being brought within the range, no driver installation, just turn them on and they’ll work. Bluetooth has short range (10 m), low power consumption, license-free 2.45 GHz ISM, voice and data transmission, approx. 1 Mbit/s gross data rate 11.

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Figure 3. Examples of Bluetooth and their connection Another type of wireless networks is Wireless Metropolitan Area Network – WMAN. It was based on the 802.16a standard and appeared in June 2004 and it provides a communications path between a subscriber site and a core network such as the public telephone network and the Internet. The goal of WMANs is to provide high-speed wireless Internet access similar to wired access technologies such as cable modem, digital subscriber line (DSL), Ethernet, and fiber optic. IEEE was motivated by the ability of the wireless technologies to cover large geographic areas without the need to deploy wires. The Wireless MAN standard has a range up to 30 miles with a data rate of up to 70 Mbits per second, capable of providing 60 businesses with Internet connections at T1 speeds of 1.5 Megabits or up to 400 homes at DSL rates 12.It is a single-carrier (SC) modulation scheme designed to operate in the 10-66 GHz spectrum. However, the 10-66 GHz spectrum is strictly line-of-sight. Wireless MAN can serve as the "backhaul" or Internet connection for Wi-Fi hotspots 13. Intel participation in the wireless MAN industry is a major “wildcard” factor, very important factor 9

White paper ;HP Broadband Wireless notebooks: integrated high-speed wireless connectivity 10 11

12

http://www.wirelessdevnet.com/channels/bluetooth/features/bluetooth.html http://www.holtmann.org/lecture/bluetooth/Bluetooth.pdf http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/columns/article.php/2195771

10 | P a g e because it has integrated Wi-Fi functionality in its Centrino mobile computing chipset. Now Intel is touting WiMax as the metropolitan area version of Wi-Fi. The European organization, ETSI, has been working on a similar project, referred to as HiperMAN. Wireless MAN has interesting advantages. It can deliver real-time voice-over-IP and video services at very low costs, in terms of data-carrying capability, wireless MAN far surpasses 3G wireless networks, it allows delivery of service in a highly flexible way, extends, replaces or backs up existing fiber infrastructure within hours, eliminates fiber trenching and leased line cost etc. This table shows the comparison between WMAN, WLAN and Bluetooth 14.

Parameters

802.16a (WiMAX)

802.11 (WLAN)

802.15 (Bluetooth)

Frequency Band:

2-11GHz

2.4GHz

Varies

Range

~31 miles

~100 meters

~10meters

Data transfer rate:

70 Mbps

11 Mbps - 55 Mbps

20Kbps - 55 Mbps

Number of users:

Thousands

Table 4. WMAN, WLAN and Bluetooth comparison

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Figure 4 shows an example of a network topology in which PMP and mesh topologies are used to cover a large metropolitan area.

Figure 4. Network Topology

13

Wi-Fi is a way to connect to the Internet wirelessly - no phone jack required. Wi-Fi hotspots are locations where you can find a Wi-Fi connection. 14

http://www.javvin.com/protocolWiMAX.html

11 | P a g e The use of WMAN in reality WMAN is a very powerful tool for linking all high schools in around 50 villages; it lets teachers, stuff and students in touch between themselves, farmers can communicate with agricultural experts, health care professionals at villages can consult specialist at the Main Hospital etc. MANs bring people into a community and assist them with social, educational and career challenges. A Local Area Network or LAN is simply a way of connecting computers together within a single organization, and usually in a single site (which may comprise many buildings such as a college campus). A LAN can be considered to be the same as an intranet, although the term intranet is often used to include the computers, servers and the software systems attached to it as well 15. We have wired LANs and wireless LANs. The basic distinction between them is their construction where wired LANs are connected through wires and wireless LANs via radio links or infrared light. In this part of the project we will be concentrated in wireless LANs.

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How it started? WLAN technology and the WLAN industry date back to the mid-1980s when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) first made the RF spectrum available to industry. During the 1980s and early 1990s, growth was relatively slow. Today, however, WLAN technology is experiencing tremendous growth. The key reason for this growth is the increased bandwidth made possible by the IEEE 802.11 standard16. Wireless LAN is a type of local area network that uses high frequency radio waves to communicate between computers, peripherals, and networking devices. These wireless devices needs wireless card which will send and receive signals. Nowadays laptops come with cards already installed. A wireless LAN comprises a number of "access points" linked into the main campus network backbone. An access point is a piece of equipment which acts as a bridge between the wireless parts of the LAN and the wired parts. They are radio transmitters and receivers which communicate with the computers in range and with the LAN backbone. Typically only one or two access points will be needed in a room (depending on the size of the room, the expected number of users and its construction 17.It permits data rates up to 54Mbps for coverage indoor spots. An access point communicates with devices equipped with wireless network adaptors; it connects to a wired Ethernet LAN via an RJ-45 port. Access point devices typically have coverage areas of up to 300 feet (approximately 100 meters). This coverage area is called a cell or range18. Wireless LAN uses electromagnetic airwaves to communicate information from one point to another without relying on any physical connection. Electromagnetic airwaves for transmitting signals can be radio waves which simply perform the function of delivering energy to a remote receiver and infrared waves which are cheaper to install and also some devices have already installed infrared ports. A wireless LAN can be used as an extension to or as an alternative for a wired LAN, a standalone network, or as a group access point to the Internet. So, wireless LANs will be used in conjunction with wired LANs to maximize the benefits. Wireless devices can be simply a part of the traditional wired LAN as we see in the figure 5. 15

Franklin, Tom

Wireless Local Area Network 2001

16

Karygiannis,Tom ; Owens.Les ;Wireless Network Security 802.11, Bluetooth and Handheld Devices Gaithersburg,November 2002. 17 Franklin, Tom Wireless Local Area Network 2001 18

Karygiannis,Tom ; Owens.Les ;Wireless Network Security 802.11, Bluetooth and Handheld Devices

Gaithersburg,November 2002.

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Figure 5. Basic wireless LANs It is a flexible data communication system; it transmits and receives data over the air, minimizing the need for wired connections. Also It is very important cause it combines data connectivity with user mobility. This leads to a number of benefits which can be economic and educational. Economic benefits in the aspect of setting wireless network in the buildings or places where is very difficult to lay cables and where drilling walls is very expensive, making rooms flexible and extend coverage to new areas etc. Also educational benefits for students who are computing with wireless connectivity this means new methods into classrooms and new educational possibilities for exploring. Furthermore they can be accessed from anywhere, so users with access to a LAN can share applications and devices anywhere in LAN.

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Who mostly needs wireless LAN? Wireless mostly needs those who cannot run wires through the environment or those who live in places where wires cannot be set up, companies that need common shared facilities, those who will use temporary offices for example for campaign where is bad to involve money in LAN infrastructure and than to leave that environment, its ideal thing for travelers and commuters which have to be connected One important issue for Wireless LANs is their cost. It will depend on the infrastructure already in that place, the configuration of the campus including the buildings, the building materials that they are constructed from and of course the coverage that the LAN is expected to provide 19. So far WLANs have been installed in universities, airports, and other major public places. Their use is inevitable. Decreasing costs of WLAN equipment has also brought it to many homes. Large future markets are estimated to be in health care, corporate offices and the downtown area of major cities. Today wireless LANs are becoming more widely recognized as general purpose connectivity alternative for a broad range of business customers.20 19

20

Franklin, Tom

Wireless Local Area Network 2001

http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Introduction-Wireless-Networking-Part1.html

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So, we mentioned above so many impressing things about wireless LANs. But nothing in this world is perfect, and so is LAN. It also has a number of disadvantages. As disadvantages we can mention:  Security Wired LANs are more secure than Wireless ones. As we now the signal produced y Wireless LAN will pass through walls which means that hackers does not even need to be inside the premises to access LAN, and be inside the firewall. Also its easier to monitor the traffic on the network and so acquire user names and passwords.  Standards still evolving Standards are still rapidly evolving and sometimes they are not compatible with each other because there are many organizations from many countries which have been defining various standards.  Network cards Network cards for wireless Networks are more expensive than those for wired networks. For example we can mention that the card for Ethernet start at £ 10 and wireless cards start at around £ 60. Even that the price is going down everyday more it still they cannot be as cheap as wired cards cause they are more complex ones.

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 Interference from other devices Wireless LANs frequencies are part of unlicensed spectrum which is shared among many devices. These include cordless telephones, garage door openers, microwave cookers and Bluetooth. Till now it doesn’t seems as great problem but as we see the number of wireless devices is increasing and this may be a serious problem in the future. Wireless WAN has been utilizes since the mid 1980s and it is a communications network utilizing devices such as telephone lines, satellite dishes, antennas, and microwaves to span a larger geographic area than can be covered by a local area network. Wireless WANs are used to give Internet connectivity over a much broader coverage area. It allows users to have access to the Internet, e-mail and corporate applications and information even while away from their offices or home. Wireless WANs use existing cellular telephone networks, so there is also the option of making voice calls over a wireless WAN. Both cellular telephones and wireless WAN PC Cards have the ability to make voice calls as well as pass data traffic on wireless WAN networks. A WWAN differs from a WLAN since it uses cellular network technologies such as GPRS / CDMA2000 / GSM / CDPD / Mobitex to transfer data. These cellular technologies are offered regionally, nationwide, or even globally and are provided by a wireless service provider such as: AT&T Wireless, Cingular Wireless, Sprint PCS or Verizon for a monthly usage fee21. Although wireless LANs and wireless WANs may appear to be competing technologies, they are far more useful as complementary technologies. Used together, a user would have the best of both technologies, offering high-speed wireless access in a campus area, and access to all their data and applications with high-speed cellular access from anywhere with wireless WAN network coverage. WWAN today and tomorrow22

21

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWAN

22

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWAN/ Microsoft - Wireless WAN Interface

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Longhorn

Device Types

PC Cards Cell Phones

Embedded Radio Modules PC Cards Cell Phones

Driver Model

NDIS using custom OIDs Modem Emulation

WWAN NDIS Interface

Features

Custom configuration software Complicated OOB configuration No integration with WLAN Difficult to get Windows logo No test tools provided

Extensible Native WWAN UI Easy OOB configuration Enables WLAN-WWAN Roaming Easy to get Windows logo Test tool included with beta

Table 2. WWAN today and tomorrow With wireless WAN, customer satisfaction is up and support costs are down. WWAN brought many benefits to many companies and satisfaction to the employers as we see from the quotation. “ The wireless WAN has dramatically improved the way we service our customers. HP provides on-site technical support faster than ever before — and at less cost. “ Bob Floyd23 Vice president-Service Delivery Operations America Technology Services

Comparing Wireless LAN with Wireless WAN

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Now that we know the basic concepts for Wireless LAN and Wireless WAN we can make a comparison between them. A wireless wide area network (Wireless WAN), covers a much more extensive area than wireless LANs. Coverage is generally offered on a nationwide level with wireless network infrastructure provided by a wireless service carrier. While wireless LANs are used to allow network users to be mobile within a small fixed area, wireless WANs are used to give Internet connectivity over a much broader coverage area, for mobile users such as business travelers or field service technicians. We can compare them in these fields: 1) Speed  802.11b wireless LAN standard transfers data at speeds of up to 11 Mbps, with typical rates of between 1–4 Mbps, decreasing as more users share the same wireless LAN connection. The next version, 802.11a, is supposed to transfer data at speeds of up to 54 Mbps24. -

23

24 25

Wireless WAN speeds differ depending on the technology used. GPRS networks offer a maximum user data rate of over 115 kbps if all eight timeslots in a cell are allocated for data transmission, (one timeslot can provide between 9 and 21 kbps 25)

http://www.sprint.com/business/resources/CaseStudy_HP.pdf White paper ; Wireless LANs vs. Wireless WANs ; 2002 November 18; Sierra Wireless White paper ; Wireless LANs vs. Wireless WANs ; 2002 November 18; Sierra Wireless

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2) Data security Security is one of the most important features when using a wireless network. Security is one of the biggest strengths for cellular wireless networks (WWANs) and one of the biggest weaknesses in 802.11 networks (WLANs). Security can be increased on wireless LANs by using shared key authentication. This shared key must be delivered through a secure method other than the 802.11 connection. 3) Hotspots Hotspots are wireless LANs available to the public in a location, like an airport, coffee shop, or city neighborhood. These (hotspots) enable users to access the network either free of charge, or for a fee paid to the network operator. 4) Costs Since wireless LANs operate in the unlicensed frequency range, there is no service cost for using a private wireless LAN. There will be a monthly Internet service provider cost for accessing the Internet through your wireless LAN access point For cellular wireless WANs, the wireless network is acting as your Internet service provider by providing access to the Internet over their wireless network. The wireless provider therefore charges a monthly subscription rate to their network, similar to a wireless phone subscription.

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As a great SOLUTION is to WLAN and WWAN work together. Used together, a user would have the best of both technologies, offering high-speed wireless access in a campus area, and access to all their data and applications with high-speed cellular access from anywhere with wireless WAN network coverage.

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Wireless Standards All standard that are developed for Wireless Network have one author, it is the IEEE or Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. IEEE is a non-profit, technical professional association of more than 360,000 individual members in approximately 175 countries that is an authority in technical areas such as computer engineering and telecommunications. Below in this chapter we will describe more details about WLAN IEEE 802.11 Standard especially its architecture and subsets. Thereafter we will talk about characteristics for WPAN IEEE 802.15 and WMAN IEEE 802.16.

IEEE standard 802.11 IEEE Standards are documents that are developed within the Technical Committees of the IEEE Societies and the Standards Coordinating Committees of the IEEE Standards Board. The standards developed within IEEE represent a consensus of the broad expertise on the subject within the Institute as well as those activities outside of IEEE that have expressed an interest in participating in the development of the standard. The figure below enables us to show the relationship between the IEEE standard 802.11 (that is part of a family of standards for local (WLAN) and metropolitan area networks (WMAN)) and other members of the family:

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Figure 6. IEEE 802.11(for local WLAN) and WMAN Wireless LAN standard defines the protocols and compatible interconnection of data communication tools by means of the air, infrared or radio in a LAN using the carrier sense multiple access protocol with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) medium sharing mechanism. MAC or the medium access control supports operation under control of an access point as well as between independent stations. Power management to reduce power consumption in mobile stations, and a point coordination function for time bounded transfer of data, verification, association, and re-association services and an optional encryption/decryption procedure are includes by the protocols. The standard includes the definition of the management information base (MIB) using Abstract Syntax Notation 1 (ASN.1) and specifies the MAC protocol in a formal way, using the Specification and Description Language (SDL). Both ASN.1 and SDL source code have been added on a floppy diskette.

17 | P a g e The main purpose of this standard is to provide wireless connectivity to automatic machinery, equipment, or stations that require rapid deployment, which may be manageable or hand-held, or which may be mounted on moving vehicles within a local area (this is used in games). This standard also offers regulatory bodies a resource of standardizing access to one or more frequency bands for the purpose of local area communication.

Architecture of IEEE 802.11 standard One most important part of Wireless LAN Standard is the architecture of IEEE 802.11, because it describes the components that interact to provide a wireless LAN that supports location mobility transparently to its upper layers. The fundamental construction Block of an IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN is the Basic service set or BSS because all radio-related functions are performed in the BSS, constricts of base station controller (BSC) and the base transceiver station (BTS). BSC provides all the control functions and physical links between the MSC (mobile services switching center) and BTS whereby handles the radio interface to the mobile station. In figure 1 show two BSS, each of which has two stations that are members of the BSS. It is useful to think of the ovals used to represent a BSS as the exposure area within which the member stations of the BSS may stay behind in communication. If a station moves out of its BSS, it can no longer directly communicate with other members of the BSS.

Figure 7.

The independent BSS as an ad hoc network

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Firstly, let we say few words about ad hoc network (including the definition) and them we will describe the independent BSS as an ad hoc network. “An ad-hoc (sometimes known as a "spontaneous") network is a local area network or other small network, especially one with wireless or temporary plug-in connections, in which some of the network devices are part of the network only for the duration of a communications session or, in the case of mobile or portable devices, while in some close proximity to the rest of the network. In Latin, ad hoc exactly means "for this," further meaning "for this purpose only," and as a result usually temporary.” The independent BSS or IBSS is the most basic type of IEEE 802.11 LAN standard. When IEEE 802.11 stations are able to communicate directly is possible IBSS. A minimum IEEE 802.11 LAN may consist of only two stations. In figure 1 shows two IBSS. This type of operation is often

18 | P a g e referred to as an ad hoc network, for the reason that this type of standard is often formed with no pre-planning, for only as long as the LAN is needed. Distribution system concepts For some networks, the physical limitations agree on the direct station-to-station distance that may be supported, this distance is sufficient. For some others networks this distance is not constant, it is dynamic (increased reporting is required). The architectural component used to interconnect BSS is the distribution system (DS). Instead of existing competition, a BSS may also form a component of an extended form of network that is built with multiple BSS. The distribution system mediums (DSM) are separates from the wireless medium logically IEEE 802.11 standard. It’s coherent that each logical medium is used for different component of course for purposes of architecture. The distribution system enables mobile device support by providing the logical services necessary to handle address to destination mapping and seamless integration of multiple BSS. An access point (AP) is a station (STA) that provides access to the DS by providing DS services in addition to acting as a station. As a result, data move between a BSS and the DS via an AP. The addresses used by an AP for communication on the WM and on the DSM are not necessarily the same.

Figure 8.

The IEEE 802.11 subsets

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The IEE 802.11 wireless LAN standard inland has 9 subsets. Those subsets or substandard are used because Wireless LAN works with different frequency range, signals and some others characteristics that we will describe bellow for each subset. 802.11a IEEE 802.11a operates in the 5-GHz frequency range (5.125 to 5.85 GHz) with a maximum 54Mbit/sec. signaling rate. The 5-GHz frequency band isn't as crowded as the 2.4-GHz frequency because it offers considerably more radio channels than the 802.11b and is used by smaller number applications. It has a shorter range than 802.11g, is essentially newer than 802.11b and isn't well-matched with 802.11b. 802.11b

19 | P a g e Operates in the 2.4-GHz Industrial, Scientific and Measurement (ISM) band (2.4 to 2.4835 GHz) and provides signaling rates of up to 11Mbit/sec. This is a very commonly used frequency. Microwave ovens, cordless phones, medical and scientific equipment, as well as Bluetooth devices, all work within the 2.4-GHz ISM band.

802.11e Ratified in late September of 2005, the 802.11e quality-of-service specification is designed to guarantee the quality of voice and video traffic. It will be particularly important for companies interested in using Wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) phones. 802.11g Similar t o 802.11b, but this standard supports signaling rates of up to 54Mbit/sec. It also operates in the heavily used 2.4-GHz ISM band but uses a different radio technology to boost overall throughput. 802.11i Sometimes called Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA 2), 802.11i was ratified in June 2004. WPA 2 supports the 128-bit -and-above Advanced Encryption Standard, along with 802.1x authentication and key management features. 802.11k Predicted for ratification in mid-2006, the 802.11k Radio Resource Management standard will provide measurement information for access points and switches to make wireless LANs run more efficiently. It may, for example, better distribute traffic loads across access points or allow dynamic adjustments of transmission power to minimize interference. 802.11n The Standard for Enhancements for Higher Throughput is designed to raise effective WLAN throughput to more than 100Mbit/sec. Final ratification is expected in late 2006. 802.11r Expected to be ratified in mid to late 2006, the 802.11r Fast Roaming standard will address maintaining connectivity as a user moves from one access point to another. This is especially important in applications that need low latency and high quality-of-service standards such as voice-over-WLAN. 802.11s This standard will deal with mesh networking. It is predicted to be ratified in mid-2008.

April 2008

IEEE standard 802.15 A wireless personal area network (WPAN) has its standard as wireless LAN, developed by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standards Association (IEEE-SA). The name of this standard is IEEE standard 802.15, it was approves in 2002. The first version of this standard, 802.15.1 was adapted from the Bluetooth specification and is completely compatible with Bluetooth 1.1. Parameters for wireless communications among portable digital devices including notebook computers, peripherals, cellular telephones, beepers, and consumer electronic devices are familiar and usually used by Bluetooth. The specification also allows for connection to the Internet.

20 | P a g e The IEEE 802.15 Working Group proposes two general categories of 802.15, called TG4 (low rate) and TG3 (high rate). The TG4 version provides data speeds of 20 Kbps or 250 Kbps. The TG3 version supports data speeds ranging from 11 Mbps to 55 Mbps. Added skin contain the use of up to 254 network devices, dynamic device addressing, support for devices in which latency is critical, full handshaking, security supplies, and power management. There will be 16 channels in the 2.4-GHz band, 10 channels in the 915-MHz band, and one channel in the 868-MHz band. Plans of IEEE are to refine the 802.15 specification to work with the Specification and Description Language (SDL), particularly SDL-88, SDL-92, and SDL-2000 updates of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) recommendation Z.100.

IEEE standard 802.16 IEEE 802.16 is a Wireless Metropolitan area network standard for 10 to 66 GHz published by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, approves in 2002. It addresses the "first-mile and last-mile" connection in wireless metropolitan area networks. Inland this standard is created a platform that enables to build a broadband wireless industry using high-rate systems that install quickly without extensive metropolitan cable infrastructures. The IEEE 802.16 standard enables interoperability between devices from multiple manufacturers. It also, includes a medium access control layer (MAC) that supports multiple physical layer specifications. The physical layer is optimized for bands from 10 to 66 GHz. Akin the Wireless LAN IEEE 802.11 standard and Wireless MAN IEEE 802.16 standard has its subsets. IEEE 802.16a is one of them. It is advanced from principles to support multimedia services like a videoconferencing, voice, and gaming. There also are includes optional mesh architecture.

Wireless Home Our focus within this chapter is to describe the concept of Wireless Home, in underway we are going to explain more details which are in relations with mobile telecommunication. CTIA or the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association is the international organization that aims to represent all elements of wireless communication - cellular, personal communications services, enhanced specialized mobile radio and mobile satellite services and serves the interests of service providers, manufacturers and others. "The wireless home is a terrific way to demonstrate the wireless lifestyle. Each year we become more and more wireless in our everyday lives, and the home is a great way to demonstrate the pervasiveness of this medium. It has a new look and feel this year that is sure to capture the attention of everyone in attendance", said Robert Mesirow, vice president and show director for CTIA WIRELESS.

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Highlights of the Wireless Home The car company “Chrysler” will demo a crash-proof wireless-enabled car of the future. Thanks to 75 MHz of spectrum recently allocated by the FCC for dedicated short range communications, an in-board unit will communicate wirelessly with roadside units and alert the driver if he/she is in danger of drifting off the road. Research to develop this cooperative communication network between vehicles and the road is being conducted under the U.S. Department of Transportation's Intelligent Transportation Program, in partnership with the automotive industry and state departments of transportation. This smart car can also transmit anonymous traffic data to traffic operation centers and deliver real-time information to news outlets and other drivers.

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Use of this technology maximizes efficiency and reduces costs for the consumer. Accenture will demonstrate smart metering with a series of networked intelligent meters and appliances that allow utility companies to better monitor energy usage Wireless technology is just scratching the service of what is possible in kitchens today! Samsung's Internet refrigerator is the "brains" of the kitchen. In the powder room, Accenture will display an online medicine cabinet that integrates smart labels, face recognition, voice synthesis and flat panel displays. This display will be used to recognize members of a household and in return, display a list of personalized health reminders such as allergy alerts, doctor's appointments and medication reminders. Because it is connected to the Internet, all of this information can be shared securely with physicians and pharmacists from the comfort and the convenience of your home. In the same time with the device, you can monitor vital signs such as blood pressure, pulse rate, cholesterol and blood sugar, and it will even send a warning if you pick up the wrong medication. For sure that for every parent is very important the safety and security of children. Because of this fact, Mobile Guardian comes into play, providing operators with an end-to-end solution that blocks unwanted, unauthorized and harmful content and contact from mobile phones. On display in the child's bedroom, visitors will experience how mobile operators can take advantage of fullyintegrated age verification, content access controls, content filtering and usage controls; and how this product allows all aspects of mobile service to be controlled directly by subscribers, parents and administrators from Web-based or handset-based interfaces. Also from Accenture this year is a media transformation prototype -- a novel approach to media storage that replaces the CD/DVD format by almost any shape or form. In the family room, this device will enable music, movies, video games and other interactive media to be embedded into standardized forms smaller than a credit card or other creative shapes such as concert tickets, T-shirts, booklets or figurines. The Samsung i830 world phone is an international favorite that can be used virtually anywhere your travels may take you with its dual mode GSM/CDMA functionality. Also on display in the living room, the i830 is packed with Windows(R) Pocket PC applications, Bluetooth wireless technology, advanced speech recognition, speakerphone, MP3 player, built-in QWERTY keyboard, and EVDO connectivity for faster data transfer. Motorola's C51 Communication System is a 5.8 GHz digital expandable, cordless phone system that connects to a Bluetooth mobile phone and has audio/video monitoring capabilities. A camera located at the front door integrates with the phone system and enhances any security system. The home office is where wireless technology first made its entry into the home, but technology for this important room certainly hasn't stopped evolving! The Kyocera KR1 Mobile Router creates a wireless broadband network and functions like an access point supporting multiple computers and devices with high-speed wireless data services. VeriSign's Backup Plus is an over-the-air, mobile phone data backup and restore solution that empowers and protects the mobile lifestyle. Developed for mass-market devices, Backup Plus stores your valuable mobile data such as contacts, pictures, video, and music to a secure VeriSign server where you can manage your data directly from a phone or online "virtual locker." As the premiere global event representing the complete wireless, mobile computing and wireless Internet industry and the largest wireless show in the world, CTIA WIRELESS 2006 brings together all industries within the communications ecosystem and all those affected by wireless technology for three days of intense learning and networking.

22 | P a g e Wireless Mesh Network Until now, there were mentioned many types of the wireless networks, but certainly not the most interesting one of them, wireless mesh network. This type of network, as the name says, is “mesh networking implemented over a Wireless LAN.” 26 The mesh networking is not a thing which is new. That is a smarter and an efficient way of combining two components (ex: computers) for transmitting data, voice and other stuffs. This type of continuous connection is established with hopping from node to node. A better definition stands from Tomas Krag and Sebastian Büettrich, who defined it as a “network that employs one of two connection arrangements, full mesh topology or partial mesh topology. In the full mesh topology, each node is connected directly to each of the others. In the partial mesh topology nodes are connected to only some, not all of the other nodes”. 27 Let’s go back where we start, about the Wireless mesh networks. Wireless mesh networks are networks which are similar to Internet, except that are smaller. There “are ’multihop’ systems in which devices assist each other in transmitting packets through the network, especially in adverse conditions. You can drop these ad hoc networks into place with minimal preparation, and they provide a reliable, flexible system that can be extended to thousands of devices.” 28 With this kind of networking we are in the benefit, because information from one node is transmitted just to the other next node, but every one of them is linked with many others, and not just with one. So, if a node is off (from damage), her work is done by her neighbors, whose job is to find another route for transmitting the same data. It implies that Wireless mesh networking is

April 2008

reliable and resilient. Figure 9. Nodes organized in a mesh network Those nodes play the role of mesh routers and mesh clients. They operate not only as a host, but also as a router. The connection between nodes is established automatically and that mesh connectivity is maintained among them-selves. That’s why when mentioning Wireless mesh network, we mean about network, which is self-configured and self-organized. The reasons for using the Wireless mesh networks aren’t in small numbers. In the most important ones, we are numbering: 26

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_mesh_network

27

http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/wireless/2004/01/22/wirelessmesh.html

28

http://www.surfability.com/ITC/mesh.php

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 “Price: 802.11 radios have become quite cheap, but the radios are often still among the most expensive elements of such network. The fact that each mesh node runs both as a client and as a repeater potentially means saving on the number of radios needed and thus the total budget.  Ease and simplicity: If you have a box that is pre-installed with wireless mesh software and uses standard wireless protocols such as 802.11b/g, the setup is extremely simple. Since routes are configured dynamically, it is often enough to simply drop the box into the network, and attach whatever antennas are required for it to reach one or more existing neighboring nodes (assuming that we can solve the issue of IP address allocation).  Organization and business models: The decentralized nature of mesh networks lends itself well to a decentralized ownership model wherein each participant in the network owns and maintains their own hardware, which can greatly simplify the financial and community aspects of the system.  Network robustness: The character of mesh topology and ad-hoc routing promises greater stability in the face of changing conditions or failure at single nodes, which will quite likely be under rough and experimental conditions.  Power: The substrate nodes of a mesh network – possibly excepting those nodes that maintain an up-link to the Internet – can be built with extremely low power requirements, meaning that they can be deployed as completely autonomous units with solar, wind, or hydro power. (A side comment: Piggybacking mesh networks on projects that primarily aim at energy production might be a very feasible strategy – with every panel or windmill, a node. Power generating units are typically connected to points of infrastructure and human presence. This makes them valid locations for network nodes. As a secondary benefit, the presence of integrated network nodes within power networks may aloe for better monitoring and management.)  Integration: Mesh hardware is typically small, noiseless, and easy encapsulated in weatherproof boxes. This means it also integrates nicely outdoors as well as in human housing.  Reality fit: Reality rarely comes as a star, ring or a straight line. In difficult terrain – be that urban or remote – where not every user can see one or few central points, chances are she can see one or more neighboring users. “ 29 How is created this kind of network?! It’s very easy; “using a series of special 802.11b Access Points (MeshAPs) that create a single, scalable wireless network. The gateway MeshAPs (that is, the MeshAP that is connected to the internet) can obtain its internet access from WiFi, local broadband, dial-up modem, ISDN or even a self contained GSM/GPRS module for really unconnected locations.”30 Later one, in order we want the network we have to become bigger in size, we have to add just another MeshAP. Built around standard 802.11b (WiFi) Hardware, access to the networks is similar, and that with a standard WiFi network card. “Conventional nodes (e.g., desktops, laptops, PDAs, PocketPCs, phones, etc.) equipped with wireless network interface card (NICs) can connect directly to wireless mesh routers. Customers without wireless NICs can access WMNs by connecting to wireless mesh routers through, for example, Ethernet. Thus, WMNs will greatly help the users to be always-on-line anywhere anytime. Moreover, the gateway/bridge functionalities in mesh routers enable the integration of WMNs with warious existing wireless networks such as cellular, wireless sensor, wireless-fidelity (Wi-Fi), worldwide inter-operability for microwave access (WiMAX), WiMedia networks. Consequently, through an integrated WMN, the users of existing network can be provided with otherwise impossible services of these networks.” 31

29

http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/wireless/2004/01/22/wirelessmesh.html

30

http://www.surfability.com/ITC/mesh.php

31

I.F.Akyildiz, X. Wang, W. Wang: “Wireless mesh networks: a survey”, 1. Introduction, available online(from 1 January 2005)

24 | P a g e Today’s network technology is filled up with many protocols, standards and products, including the Wireless mesh networks. The importance differs from one to another. But, all they try to manage one job, and that is better communication rules between sides. Different approaches are review hereinafter:  “AODV is a routing protocol for ad-hoc networks designed with mobile wireless devices in mind. It is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.  Mobile Mesh protocol contains three separate protocols, each addressing a specific function: 1. Link Discovery 2. Routing 3. Border Discovery The Mobile Mesh software is covered by the GNU General Public License (Version 2).  TBRPF, or Topology Broadcast based on Reverse-Path Forwarding, is a proactive, link-state routing protocol designed for mobile as-hoc networks, which provides hopby-hop routing along minimum hop paths to each destination. It seems it is patentprotected unless it becomes an IETF standard.  OSPF is a link-state routing protocol. It is designed to be run internal to a single Autonomous System. Each OSPF router maintains an identical database describing the Autonomous System’s topology. From this database, a routing table is calculated by constructing a shortest-path tree.  GNU Zebra is free software that manages TCP/IP-based routing protocols. It is released as part of the GNU Project, and is distributed under the GNU General Public License. It supports BGP-4 protocol as described in RFC1771 (A Border Gateway Protocol 4) s well as RIPv1, RIPv2, and OSPFv2.  LocustWorld develops a free bootable CD solution based on the AODV protocol, and also develops and sells a complete ready-to-deploy MeshBox running its software, most (but not all) of which is available under the GPL. The Mesh Box and mesh software have been used in a number of community networks in the UK.  4G MeshCube. The German company 4G Mobile Systems has developed a tiny MeshCube running Debian Linux on a MIPS processor, using MITRE Mobile Mesh routing software. This is a ready-to-deploy gateway with both a wireless and a wired interface. With a power consumption of 4W (and potentially lower), it is ideal for deployment with an autonomous sustainable power source.”32

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As a conclusion: “Clearly, wireless mesh networks are gaining traction. The promise of more complete coverage, faster speed, strong reliability, ease of deployment and a lower cost than many existing options make wireless mesh networks a very attractive and affordable alternative. As city governments, metropolitan areas and businesses evaluate mesh networks, keep in mind they’re best suited for large indoor and outdoor spaces where cabling doesn’t exist and the design of the network is the most critical factor for completing a successful implementation.” 33

32

http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/wireless/2004/01/22/wirelessmesh.html

33

http://www.dominopower.com/issues/issue200507/00001406003.html

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Figure 10. An example of a WMN in a city We can freely say that this technology is promising a lot for the generations that come. In the USA, “most of the interest in this technology has come from municipalities wanting to provide citywide data networking to police, firefighters and other public employees. Some cities and grassroots organizations are offering Internet access via mesh topology; the city of Philadelphia is planning an ambitious project of this sort. Cities often can mount the required equipment on light poles throughout area.”34 With Philadelphia, are starting to joint the Wireless mesh network also Taipei, Tempe, etc., and this is not the end. But, “to strengthen the market penetration and secure the success of WMNs, more research is needed.”35

April 2008

Wireless Networks Software Fixing problems wireless technology need some extra tool that maybe indirect tool. This more to see what is happening to the radio signal or data’s that are passing between adapter and access point or between adapters in one “ad hoc” network. Of course to manage these tests, die-hard techies and serious radio frequency engineers will use high tech equipment that cost like expensive test equipment—signal generators, spectrum analyzers, and network packet sniffers/analyzers—to assess the environment of and around a wireless network installation. This means that for most of us is difficult to pay such cost for highly specialized electronic equipment we will use only once or twice. Practically wireless networking is not as logical or measurable as tests you may perform on a hard drive or serial I/O port. In these cases you will not find diagnostic programs, but instead, metering software that provides some visualizations of wireless signals. However there are a few examples of adapter card–specific signal strength and network availability monitors that provide a good relative indication of signal strength, but as you get into network design and reliability, you need something more absolute than a poor/weak, good, or excellent indication. In fact, what is 34 35

http://www.baselinemag.com/article2/0,1540,1858551,00.asp

I.F.Akyildiz, X. Wang, W. Wang: “Wireless mesh networks: a survey”, 18. Conclusion, available online(from 1 January 2005)

26 | P a g e needed is something that will tell you in known absolute values which signals exist nearby, and how strong they are Fortunately, many programmers took it upon themselves to find out how these new wireless devices work and pulled out some very valuable data. They have found ways to present us the information that will help to make sense of this invisible connection between computers and networks. The results are several programs that can help to see and somehow understand what is going on in one wireless networking environments. Herewith should be underlined that most of those programs are for Linux systems. All this results are coming to us through the features, functions, and admitted limitations of what a wireless network adapter can reveal to us. Saying that the world of Linux is a good ground for some of the deepest and most profound network and internet innovation, this does not mean that Windows and Macintosh users are not left in the dark. Wireless may be the one thing, next to the Internet, that brings these separate and distinct platforms together for the good of all. It is not about replacing wires with invisible energy fields. It is that all at once, three distinct computing platforms are thrust into working together at the same time. Through wireless and all that it promises for networking and applications outside of pure computing, users of these platforms must configure and exchange a variety of common information in order to establish a common networking ground. It is no longer AppleTalk versus NetBIOS, TCP/IP versus IPX/SPX, or variants and workarounds in between, but purely the same technology and the same terms applicable to all platforms. The interaction of users with wireless, signal integrity, wireless security and failure analysis bring these platforms together. In the same time the tools used to monitor and analyze wireless and security is not in same level available for all platforms. In this direction the most known applications for determining wireless network security levels, AirSnort and WEPCrack, are available only for Linux/UNIX platforms. This fact makes all Windows and Mac networks system administrators, who do not know to use Linux, to try to learn it quickly or to hire a consultant from outside to help them to assess the security for their networks. Of course hiring this type of consultants has usually high cost. But, AirSnort and WEPCrack could be labeled as tools that have been designed only for the purpose of hacking into someone’s wireless network. But in order to assess security, you need something or someone to try to breach it. Better you using these tools on yourself and tightening up security than someone unknown, with motives unknown, trying to breach your network’s borders.

April 2008

UNIX/Linux It can deal with the operating system just so much before becoming frustrated at the lack of concise step-by-step documentation to get you quickly to the point where a new device, feature, or program simply functions. For Linux to be viable, some degree of detailed technical support must exist with or for the user, this more for wireless applications. In terms of realizing the userfriendly attributes that make an operating system approachable and practical ore at least tolerable to work with, UNIX systems have far to go. Most of us do not want to GUnzip, untar, compile, link, debug, decipher log files, decipher and edit obscure and esoteric configuration file parameters, learn C and shell scripting to be able to read and extract salient bits of command parameters, and do so over and over again for 12 to 24 hours, only to fail to get a simple wireless network card or two to work. Linux and UNIX in general, need more user-friendly tools, at least in the context of wireless networking, before it can make a dent in the Windows market. In reality, it is need more time to find information on the internet to get various fragments of information that finally can help getting a wireless adapter to work with Linux. There is quit big need for manual about steps through UNIX system configuration for the masses. These are not religious or philosophical issues, abiding respect for UNIX experts and the many great things about UNIX-based systems, but this genre of operating system is still about five years behind the DOS-to-Windows, plug-andplay, auto recovery, goof protection progress that has been made in the WinTel (Windows+Intel) market recently. However, there are ways to get Linux to do at least one thing it is good at with wireless devices—routing, firewall, and access control. This can be done without immersing yourself in the struggles of getting this card or that to be recognized and automatically configured

27 | P a g e at boot time, using external wireless bridges or access points connected to an otherwise ubiquitous Ethernet card in the Linux system. While you avoid the trials and tribulations of configuring Linux for wireless, you will not be able to use AirSnort, WEPCrack, or the other low-level sniffing tools with an external wireless device, but the practical goal is wireless + Linux, leaving the sniffing and packet analysis to those with more time on their hands. If you have accomplished getting a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) or personal computer (PC) card-based wireless adapter to work with Linux, you are probably familiar with many of the tools and discussion groups available that helped get you through the experience and allowed you to play with wireless all you wanted.

Apple Macintosh The lack of information and easy, logical accessibility to essential system and feature configuration that would make it about 110 percent easier to do many common, expected things with a Macintosh operating system, is a concern for many users as well. Common, expected things in this context, mean being able to install, troubleshoot, and support Ethernet connections. To become familiar with the user interface, control panels, program installations there is a need to maintain about 10 Mac G3s, G4s, and a few iBooks. But there is a lot missing from the Mac. For all the easy-to-use hype, at least is expected one complete panel of “idiot lights” to tell us what is happening or not with these systems. Even settle for a simple Link LED indicator for the Ethernet connection I acceptable, but apparently that is asking too much. OS X is the best thing to happen to Apple since it first hit the market. Maybe there is hope, only because OS X offers a full range of UNIX-based network troubleshooting tools—at least PING and TRACEROUTE— without having to scrounge for, download, and install several different third-party tools to provide these features to OS 9.

Microsoft Windows Although Microsoft Windows is in advantage for personal and business computing, the number of wireless-specific tools available for Windows falls well behind Linux. This shortfall does not prevent you from using Windows for access control or as a gateway for a wireless network. Windows for desktops provides Internet connection sharing. Windows 2000 can act as a remote access server to a LAN or the Internet, and will host RADIUS and other forms of access control and user authentication.

April 2008

Summary (about Wireless Standard) Wireless networking support provided in the current operating systems, and the software that comes with your network card, can help on easily jump in on the basics of the wireless wave. For more intense wireless projects, you will find the software and information links provided here to be invaluable in getting you farther along into a robust and secure wireless infrastructure. Expensive and precise test equipment from Agilent (formerly Hewlett-Packard’s test equipment division), Tektronix, Anritsu, IFR, or Motorola are the only solution in case you need to know more about the signals floating around in the wireless spectrum, because no amount of software for any operating system will help you. If you need more specific information about a particular network product, technology, or problem, consult any of the Web sites and list servers listed, or use your favorite Web search engine. If you feel the prospect of implementing a wireless network is way over your head, you can probably find a suitable local vendor to help you design and build a network to suit your needs. Of course on the internet you will be amazed at the wealth of specific data available.

28 | P a g e Wireless Networks Security

April 2008

With the good, always comes the other part: the bad. Our job is to face with it, because if we close our eyes, that wont disappears. We all agree that wireless technology, in many cases is making benefits to people, for the reason that is making connection among them, also in places that wires cannot. But, undoubtedly it comes with many risks, and those in good number. It is a thing which is vulnerable to human hacking or biological bugs; that is, the network users. Vulnerability doesn’t come just from the humans, but also from the other sources of wireless signals, but especially humans. The first and the most important one of them is its security. “The term “wireless security” may seem a contradiction in terms. After all, how can any data sent into the open air be secure?” 36 Almost every day we hear about some tries to access to some network, from someone interested for information; a modern thief, who doesn’t want to besmirch his hands, but he seats in front of his computer, time on his hands and a lot of nerves while trying to decode some banks accounts. Often, they gain their goal. Those network stakes, will right we can say that are raised with wireless. “Suddenly, one no longer needs physical presence to log data: shy bother trying to smuggle equipment onsite when you can crack from your own home or office two blocks away with a highgain antenna?”37 The balance between making an easy connection for an average user and a safety one is not an easy job. We haven’t done any work if we couldn’t made a simpler form of checking the e-mail from any user, and on the other side we have the most cryptographically sound method on the planet for authenticating a user to the system. Thus, the balance must be found, or saying with another words, we should try to make maximum security but with minimum problems in communication between users of the network. There are many threats that come to the computers in network, which the NIST handbook An Introduction to Computer Security generically classifies in nine categories ranging from errors and omissions to threat to personal privacy.” 38 The risks that comes from these threats, is harmless for the people, and of course for their data (information). “NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-26, Security Self-Assessment Guide for Information Technology Systems, states that information must be protected from unauthorized, unanticipated, or unintentional modification. Security requirements include the following:  Authenticity – A third party must be able to verify that the content of a message has not been changed in transit.  Nonrepudiation – The origin of the receipt of a specific message must be verifiable by a third party.  Accountability – The actions of an entity must be traceable uniquely to that entity.” 39 Wireless networks, like a new way of making connections between two sides, is plenty with risks. Those are equal to the sum of the risks of the operating a wired network (as in operating a network in general) plus the new risks introduced by weaknesses in wireless protocols. “There are a couple of reasons why wireless networks are currently less secure than their wired counterparts. First off, there is the fact of their physical nature. They ate wireless, broadcasting a signal out over an area. Any computer within this area with the correct equipment can be considered to be ‘connected to the network’. No wires equal easier access to the network for everyone. This also makes one of the most popular ‘hacking’ tactics vastly easier: ‘packet sniffing’, or capturing data sent over the network to analyze it for information. Anyone on range can receive all traffic sent over the wireless network. 36

http://www.jiwire.com/wi-fi-security-introduction-overview.htm

37

Rob Flickenger, Building Wireless Community Networks, Chapter 3. Network Layout – 3.3 Security Considerations, First Edition, O’Reilly, January 2002 38 The NIST Handbook, Special Publication 800-12, An Introduction to Computer Security 39

T. Karygiannis and L. Owens, Wireless Network Security – 802.11, Bluetooth and Handheld Devices, NIST, Technology Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Special Publication 800-48

29 | P a g e

April 2008

Figure 11. 802.11. Architecture Secondly, current security methods for the most widely available wireless technology, 802.11b, are either easy to defeat or difficult to implement.” 40 Threats and vulnerabilities that come next are some of the more salient ones of the wireless systems:  “All the vulnerabilities that exist in a conventional wired network apply to wireless technologies.  Malicious entities may gain unauthorized access to an agency’s computer or voice (IP telephony) network through wireless connections, potentially bypassing any firewall protections.  Sensitive information that is not encrypted (or that is encrypted with poor cryptographic techniques) and that is transmitted between two wireless devices may be intercepted and disclosed.  Denial of service (DoS) attacks may be directed at wireless connections or devices.  Malicious entities may steal the identity of legitimate users and masquerade as them on internal or external corporate networks.  Sensitive data may be corrupted during improper synchronization.  Malicious entities may deploy unauthorized equipment (e.g., client devices and access points) to surreptitiously gain access to sensitive information.  Data may be extracted without detection from improperly configured devices.  Viruses or other malicious code may be corrupt data on a wireless device and be subsequently introduced to a wired network connection.  Malicious entities may, through wireless connections, connect to other agencies for the purposes of launching attacks and concealing their activity.  Interlopers, from inside or out, may be able to gain connectivity to network management controls and thereby disable or disrupt operations.  Malicious entities may use a third party, untrusted wireless network services to gain access to an agency’s network resources.  Internal attacks may be possible via as hoc transmissions.”41 The 802.11b networks can be secured (normally, not 100% percent) in two ways: by WEP (wireless encryption protocol) and MAC addressing filter. 40 41

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1489

T. Karygiannis and L. Owens, Wireless Network Security – 802.11, Bluetooth and Handheld Devices, NIST, Technology Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Special Publication 800-48

30 | P a g e With the packets encryption at the MAC layer, an access point-to-point (peer-to-peer) group can associate only clients who know the “secret key”. Others can see those packets in the network traffic, but ‘unfortunately’ they are encrypted. This encryption key employs a 40-bit, shared RC4 PRNG (Pseudo-Random Number Generator) algorithm from RSA Data Security. There are manufacturers that have implemented their own proprietary extensions to WEP. They (e.g., Agere and Cisco) have included 128-bit keys and dynamic key management. Because they are belong and defined by the 802.11b standard, in practice it is shown that these cards from different manufacturers that use these extensions, interoperate. MAC address filtering is another way that people have tried to secure their networks over and above the 802.11b standards. The MAC address of a network card is a 12 digit hexadecimal number that is unique to each and every network card in the world. Because each card has its own individual address, if you limit access to the AP to only those MAC addresses of authorized devices, you can easily shut out everyone who should not be on your network. 42 But, also and this has its disadvantages, and as the biggest one is the management aspect of it.

April 2008

But we must have in minded that although these difficulties, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t use this kind of networking. There are some basic precautions that we have to take, in order to make more difficult for curiosity seekers to get into our personal information. The following are some steps, which are mentioned by Tony Bradley:  “Change the System ID: Devices come with a default system ID called the SSID (Service Set Identifier) or ESSID (Extended Service Set Identifier). It is easy for a hacker to find out what the default identifier is for each manufacturer of wireless equipment so you need to change this to something else. Use something unique- not your name or something easily guessed.  Disable Identifier Broadcasting: Announcing that you have a wireless connection to the world is an invitation for hackers. You already know you have one so you don’t need to broadcast it. Check the manual for your hardware and figure out how to disable broadcasting.  Enable Encryption: WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) and WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) encrypt your data so that only the intended recipient is supposed to be able to read it. WEP has many holes and is easily cracked. 128-bit keys impact performance slightly without a significant increase in security so 40-bit (or 64-bit on some equipment) encryption is just as well. As with all security measures there are ways around it, but by using encryption you will keep the casual hackers out of your systems. If possible, you should use WPA encryption (most older equipment can be upgraded to be WPA compatible). WPA fixes the security flaws in WEP but is still subject to DOS (denial-of-service) attacks.  Restrict Unnecessary Traffic: Many wired and wireless routers have built-in firewalls. They are not the most technically advanced firewalls, but they help create one more line of defense. Read the manual for your hardware and learn how to configure your router to only allow incoming or outgoing traffic that you have approved.  Change the Default Administrator Password: This is just good practice for ALL hardware and software. The default passwords are easily obtained and because so many people don’t bother to take the simple step of changing them they are usually what hackers try first. Make sure you change the default password on your wireless router / access point to something that is not easily guessed like your last name.  Patch and Protect Your PC’s: As a last line of defense you should have personal firewall software such as Zone Alarm Pro and anti-virus software installed on your computer. As important as installing the anti-virus software, you must keep it up to date. New viruses are discovered daily and anti-virus software vendors generally release updates at least once a week. You also must keep up to date with patches for known

42

http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/security.ars/3

31 | P a g e security vulnerabilities. For Microsoft operating systems you can use Windows Update to try and help keep you current with patches.”43 “Spurred by the insecurities and management issues exposed with WEP as it was standardized in 802.11b, the IEEE formed Task Force 802.11i to write a good standard for wireless security. The 802.11i standard is a work in progress, but enough has been done to figure out what much of it will be. Wireless implementations are divided into two groups, legacy and new. Legacy networks are those which were put in place before the .11i standard was ratified, and new networks are those put in place after it is ratified. Both groups use 802.1X as the means of handling credential verification, but the encryption method differs. 802.11i also specifies that only EAP standards which handle dynamic key generation may be used. To conform to 802.11i legacy networks will be required to use 104 bit WEP, and also use Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP, formerly known as WEP2) and Message Integrity Check (MIC). Both of these technologies were developed by Cisco as proprietary means of strengthening WEP. Though they are available today, these are only available on all Cisco networks, and then not on all platforms. TKIP addresses the IV attacks on WEP by encrypting everything before it is run through the WEP machine, essentially adding another layer of encryption to the packet. MIC adds stronger integrity checking than a simple CRC check to prevent attackers from changing messages after transmission.” 44 For the Wireless Technology, scientists haven’t given the final word yet. “New tools, methodologies, and technologies are Wireless Network Security being introduced regularly to implement, enhance, detect, combat, secure, and add value to this resource. The most vulnerable part of your network may not be the limitations of technology, and are no technical. In addition to the available solutions for the technology at hand, it is important to remember that many security issues are biological or human in nature. Vulnerability includes using simple passwords instead of those that are more difficult to guess or reproduce; using default SSIDs or passwords; sharing passwords with others; leaving passwords on “sticky notes” next to system; and of course disgruntled employees taking data away from the network on paper, diskettes, CDs, or transmitting by e-mail or file transfer protocol (FTP). The easiest pickings are had when you have direct and obvious access to the information you want. So limiting access to information on a need-to-know basis is also crucial. “ 45

April 2008

Societal Implications of Wireless Connectivity “As a rule, technological innovations force a society to reevaluate its core principles and sometimes make significant, often irreversible, cultural adjustments to accommodate the new technology. Wireless networking is uniquely poised to change the world in a relatively short period of time, insofar as it engenders an unprecedented cultural situation in which users are constantly connected to each other with mobile devices through the Internet or ad hoc peer-topeer networks. In Smart Mobs (2002), Howard Rheingold considers many of the implications of such a situation envisioning a “wireless commons” in which every person, object and place is connected to the Web and assigned a unique URL, transmitting and receiving information constantly across the network. In this dense (and mostly invisible) web of data, roaming human nodes in the network will be able to retrieve and share information about everything, everywhere, effortlessly. On the positive side, Rheingold views such a network as a means of dissolving barriers between people and fostering the formation of communities, both of divergent segments of the population who stand to benefit from each other’s knowledge, and of like-minded individuals who choose to convene for social purposes or for spur-of-the moment, cooperative political action. Both functions are critical for effective knowledge management. Rheingold cites several feats of political coordination enabled by wireless computer connectivity, including the 1999 World Trade Organization protests in Seattle and the ongoing demonstrations by bicycling “Critical Mass” protesters. On a more mundane level, the process of arranging one’s social or business calendar 43

T. Bradley, Introduction to Wireless Network Security, http://netsecurity.about.com/mbiopage.htm

44

http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/security.ars/5

45

Jim Aspinwall, ‘Installing, Troubleshooting, and Repairing Wireless Networks’, McGraw-Hill, 2003, USA

32 | P a g e is streamlined when friends and colleagues can keep tabs on each other’s whereabouts, and communicate across the network instantly. As Rheingold points out, however, this omniscience comes with a price. Being permanently tied into a network requires one to relinquish a privilege that people in this country have traditionally held very dear: privacy. If information flows freely across the network, it has the potential to be seen by anyone. Information can be intercepted over networks, whether by a nosy family member, a malevolent thief, or a government authority. Already, the prevalence of personal data theft has created calls for governmental regulation of data brokers and massive network security initiatives (Zetter, 2005). Many people are wary of any technology that has the ability to make our private lives public. With that in mind, Rheingold suggests that more powerful encryption technology, along the lines of the Wireless Encryption Protocol (WEP), may be the only way that users will be able to maintain any semblance of privacy in the new wireless world. Philip Agre in his essay “Welcome to the Always On World,” (2001) presents a few more social discomforts that can, and have, resulted from ubiquitous human networking. Among them are: 1) constant interruptions – the “always on” mentality can distract people from their tasks; 2) divided attention – when people are constantly paying attention to maintaining their social networks and communications devices, they have little attention to devote to individual personal relationships; 3) addiction – some people become addicted to information in a networked environment, constantly checking their email, blogs, message boards, etc., because they fear they might miss out on something important; 4) boundaries – when people give each other tacit permission to keep track of each others affairs, social boundaries collapse, causing what can be perceived as an invasion of each other’s privacy (Agre, 2001). These concerns have been manifested in use of wireless technology, and as wireless computing becomes more ubiquitous, they will only grow more intense. Therefore, it is incumbent upon people in this age to approach the use of new technology with a critical eye. People should be able to ask, “What are the implications of using this technology? Does it make my life more manageable or more complicated? Are its benefits worth its consequences?” Certainly, wireless networking will change the very fabric of our society, but we as societal participants have the opportunity to make decisions regarding just how this change will take place.

April 2008

The Politics of Wireless Networking The adoption of wireless networking technology comes with many political considerations as well. One concern is how it affects the so-called “digital divide.” Some people view wireless networks as opening up new opportunities for learning and participation in society for people who are at a disadvantage either through lack of material resources or information illiteracy. A counterargument posits, however, that building a wireless network into our society’s core will only serve to alienate those without access to Internet service, laptops, PDAs, or wearable devices. According to Metcalfe’s Law, the addition of people to the network will increase the network’s value, while Reed’s Law suggests that adding a new group of people will increase its value even more. In short, a wireless society stands to benefit from the inclusion of all citizens, especially those who would otherwise be excluded. One response to this issue has been the creation of low-cost or free public wireless networks to ensure that all citizens have access to the Internet. Sponsored by libraries, philanthropists and city or state governments, these projects have created much controversy and a series of territorial disputes, in part because broadband Internet service providers feel they should be able to charge people for wireless service without fear of competition from the government. Due to their strong lobbying power in Congress, the broadband companies have posed a formidable challenge to municipalities, and several states are considering bills to outlaw municipal wireless projects. (Tanner, 2005) While corporations think that they should control the networks, others think that networks should remain uncontrolled and subject to the will of the people. Still others argue for more government involvement. Rheingold (2002) discusses the case of government projects, like California’s Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) that use wireless networks as a security infrastructure in case of a catastrophic event. In part because wireless networks lack the physical constraints of wired networks, the question of who has the

33 | P a g e right to exercise control over them is a difficult one that will need to be decided in the near future.”46

April 2008

We live in exciting times, when hosts of emerging wireless technologies promise radical change in our modes of perception, interaction, democratic participation, and time and information management. As new technology is developed, we will witness even greater change, which hopefully will benefit society, rather than harm it. In the meantime, we have an obligation to approach that technology with a certain degree of criticality. “

46

H. Nodler, A World Without Wires: The future of Wireless Networking, Knowledge Management Systems, Dr. Don Turnbull, May 3, 2005

34 | P a g e Conclusion Increasing the security of wireless networking is becoming essential and necessity. This because the wireless networks have the undesirable property that all data transmitted is broadcast to all wireless clients on the network. This leaves open the possibility of eavesdropping on private information and it appears as perfect opportunity for hackers to use it for their own benefit. However there are improvements that have occurred in both confidentiality and authentication, by including the 802.11 wireless standards. This standard is a protocol for encryption in wireless networks called WEP. Basically this was a huge improvement over plaintext communication. Above mentioned standard it also served as a catalyst for hackers who wished to gain access the data that are being transmitted through a wireless network. This secure data included bank transactions, e-commerce sales, and several others. Later on several weaknesses were discovered in the WEP protocol that allowed hackers to decode data. In the same time the computer security community reaches by improving some of the known weaknesses in the WEP protocol. Also, the most secure networks do not use a single preshared key, because most of the weaknesses with WEP involved capture vast amounts of data encrypted with a single key. As substitute for this they use a protocol that provides user with a session key after authenticates each of them. But, if single user keeps a session open for a long time, it is likely that an attacker could discover the session key. Even if the case when the session key is compromised, the attacker will only have the ability to read the messages for the remainder of that session. Wireless Network use will continue to grow and become more important over the next five years.

April 2008

One of the most common questions about wireless is, How far will it go? As with most answers about technical things, it depends. 802.11b was designed with native, unmodified, unenhanced devices to extend the length of a 10BaseT Ethernet wire by 300 meters. This equals 985 feet, about a city block, or 0.18 miles. Unobstructed, unimpeded with line-ofsight, 802.11b will do just that and probably more. But who is going to hold their laptops above their heads or mount an access point itself on a rooftop to communicate digitally? Who knows what will happen after 10 years…New standards will be created, old standards will die off… It is the choices of today which will inevitably help to shape the emerging world of wireless tomorrow.

35 | P a g e References 1. Call for Papers Wireless Mesh Networking www.comsoc.org/dl/pcm/mesh_cfp.htm 2. O'Reilly Network -- Wireless Mesh Networking http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/ wireless/2004/01/22/wirelessmesh.html 3. PC Magazine Wireless Mesh Networks 1 & 4. PC Magazine Wireless Mesh Networks 2 http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_zdpcm/is_200307/ai_ziff43564 5. Primer Wireless Mesh Networks www.baselinemag.com/article2/0,1540,1858551,00.asp 6. Surfability solutions Wireless 'mesh' networks www.surfability.com/ITC/mesh.php 7. Wireless mesh network - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_mesh_network 8. Wireless mesh networks boost reliability - Network World www.networkworld.com/news/tech/2003/1110techupdate.html 9. I.F.Akyildiz, X. Wang, W. Wang: “Wireless mesh networks: a survey”,available online(from 1 January 2005) 10. An Overview of Wireless Network Security http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Overview-Wireless-Network-Security.html 11. Beginners Guides Wireless Network Security - PCStats_com 1& Beginners Guides Wireless Network Security - PCStats_com 2 http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1489 12. Complete Guide to Wi-Fi Security www.jiwire.com/wi-fi-security-introduction-overview.htm 13. Robert J. Boncella, WIRELESS SECURITY: AN OVERVIEW, Washburn University, Communications of the Association for Information Systems (Volume 9, 2002) 14. Jim Aspinwall, ‘Installing, Troubleshooting, and Repairing Wireless Networks’, McGraw-Hill, 2003, USA

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15. T. Karygiannis and L. Owens, Wireless Network Security – 802.11, Bluetooth and Handheld Devices, NIST, Technology Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Special Publication 800-48 16. N.Aboudagga, D. Giry*, J.J.Quisquater;WIRELESS SECURITY DESIGN OVERVIEW, UCL Crypto Group - Place du levant, 3 - 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve Belgium 17. Tara M., Charles R. Elden; Wireless Security and Privacy: Best Practices and Design Techniques, Addison Wesley, September 13, 2002 18. Rob Flickenger, Building Wireless Community Networks, First Edition, O’Reilly, January 2002

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19. Wireless home: 1. http://www.wirelessdevnet.com/news/2006/mar/31/news5.html 2. http://www.hometechnews.com/info/2006/03/31/122000.html 20. Wireless Standard: 20. 1. IEEE 802.16 -> http://wirelessman.org/tutorial/ • http://www.palminfocenter.com/view_story.asp?ID=4936

• •

http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2003Feb/bpd20030203018457.htm http://csdl2.computer.org/comp/mags/ds/2004/08/o8004.pdf

20.2. 802.15 http://searchmobilecomputing.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid40_gci837226,00.html • http://shop.ieee.org/ieeestore/product.aspx?product_no=SP1131

->

20.3. 802.11 Wireless LAN Medium Access IEEE 802.11", June, 2003 William A. Arbaugh, Narendar Shankar, and Y.C. Justin Wan, "802.11 Wireless Network.pdf", March 30, 2001 •

Wireless 802.11 Standards.pdf

21. Wireless Networks Software JIM ASPINWALL, "Installing, Troubleshooting, and Repairing Wireless Networks.pdf” 22. H. Nodler, A World Without Wires: The future of Wireless Networking, Knowledge Management Systems, Dr. Don Turnbull, May 3, 2005 23. Microsoft, Getting Started Guide To Wireless Networks, University of Birmingham, 2003 24. Introduction to 802.11 Wireless Networks standard; CyberScience laboratory; May 2003 25. Tanenbaum, Andrew S; Computer Networks 26. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_PAN 27. White paper; HP Broadband Wireless notebooks: integrated high-speed wireless connectivity

28 http://www.wirelessdevnet.com/channels/bluetooth/features/bluetooth.html

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29 http://www.holtmann.org/lecture/bluetooth/Bluetooth.pdf 30 http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/columns/article.php/2195771 31 Franklin, Tom Wireless Local Area Network 2001 32 http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Introduction-Wireless-NetworkingPart1.html

37 | P a g e 33 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWAN 34 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWAN/ Microsoft - Wireless WAN Interface

35 http://www.sprint.com/business/resources/CaseStudy_HP.pdf 36 http://www.brabantbreedband.nl/publications/openingssymposium/08.%20Erik %20Fledderus.pdf

37 http://www.newsfactor.com/story.xhtml?story_id=41852 38 http://www.bitpipe.com/rlist/term/WLAN.html?src=ggbp74185i&CMP=KNCGoogleAdwords&HBX_PK=wireless+LAN&HBX_OU=50

39 http://www.sss-mag.com/wlan.html 40 http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Introduction-Wireless-NetworkingPart1.html

41 http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Introduction-Wireless-NetworkingPart2.html

42 http://www.wirelessdevnet.com/channels/bluetooth/features/bluetooth.html 43 http://www.wi-fiplanet.com/columns/article.php/2195771 44 http://www.javvin.com/protocolWiMAX.html 45 http://www-run.montefiore.ulg.ac.be/Research/Topics/index.php?topic=Mobile 46 http://www.verilan.com/news/wilan.shtml 47 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_PAN 48 http://www.sprint.com/business/resources/CaseStudy_HP.pdf 49 http://www.holtmann.org/lecture/bluetooth/Bluetooth.pdf 50 Introduction to 802.11 Wireless Networks standard; CyberScience laboratory; May 2003

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51 Aspinwall, Jim Installing, troubleshooting and repairing wireless networks USA 2003:McGrawHill 52 Karygiannis,Tom ; Owens.Les ;Wireless Network Security 802.11, Bluetooth and Handheld Devices, Gaithersburg,November 2002. 53 Tanenbaum, Andrew S ; Computer Networks 54 White paper ;HP Broadband Wireless notebooks: integrated high-speed

38 | P a g e wireless connectivity 58. Franklin, Tom Wireless Local Area Network, 2001 59. White paper; Wireless LANs vs. Wireless WANs; 2002 November 18; Sierra Wireless

April 2008

Abbreviations List PDA

–

Personal digital assistance

WPAN

–

Wireless Personal Area Network

WLAN

–

Wireless Local Area Network

WMAN

–

Wireless Metropolitan Area Network

PC

–

Personal Computer

DNS

–

Domain Name System

Mbps

–

Mega bit per second

POS

–

Personal Operating Space

SIG

–

Special Interest Group

IEEE

–

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

RF

–

Radio frequency

Wi-Fi

–

Wireless Fidelity

MMDS

–

Multichannel multipoint distribution service

GSM

–

Global System for Mobile Communications

CDPD

–

Cellular Digital Packet Data

CDMA

–

Code Division Multiple Access

ISM

–

Industrial, Scientific and Medical

VoIP

–

Voice-over Internet Protocol

DSL

–

Digital Subscriber Line

SC

–

Single-Carrier

SS

–

Subscriber Station

FCC

–

Federal Communications Commission

39 | P a g e

April 2008

GPRS

–

General Packet Radio Service

40 | P a g e Glossary Ad-hoc “An ad-hoc network (sometimes known as a "spontaneous") is a local area network or other small network, especially one with wireless or temporary plug-in connections, in which some of the network devices are part of the network only for the duration of a communications session or, in the case of mobile or portable devices, while in some close proximity to the rest of the network. In Latin, ad hoc exactly means "for this," further meaning "for this purpose only," and as a result usually temporary.” PDA Personal Digital Assistant is a term for any small mobile hand held device that provides computing and information storage retrieval capabilities for personal or business use, often for keeping schedule calendars and adress book information handy. WPAN Wireless Personal Area Network; personal area means up to 10 meter radius. Example: Bluetooth, IEEE 802.15 WLAN A wireless LAN or WLAN is a wireless local area network that uses radio waves as its carrier: the last link with the users is wireless, to give a network connection to all users in the surrounding area. Areas may range from a single room to an entire campus. The backbone network usually uses cables, with one or more wireless access points connecting the wireless users to the wired network. WMAN Wireless Metropolitan Area Network: A regional wireless computer or communication network spanning the area covered by an average to large city. WWAN WWAN stands for Wireless wide area network. Like WLAN i.e, wireless LAN WWAN works but on a wider scale. The architectural details about WWAN can be obtained from any site describing or defining wireless network IP addresses A unique number identifying every computer on the Internet (like 62.162.99.55)

April 2008

DNS A computer program running on a web server, translating domain names into IP addresses Access point (AP) A wireless network interface device, acting as or replacing the function of the hub or switch in a wired network, to allow wireless network cards in client systems to connect to a LAN or the Internet. IEEE

41 | P a g e Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. is a nonprofit, technical professional association of more than 360,000 individual members in approximately 175 countries that is an authority in technical areas such as computer engineering and telecommunications. Radio Frequency (RF) Electro-magnetic waves used in radio communications to carry information. WiFi Wireless fidelity is the generic term for 802.11 technology WiMax Popular name of the 802.16 wireless metropolitan-area network standard that's currently being developed. WiMax, which will have a range of up to 31 miles, is primarily aimed at making broadband network access widely available without the expense of stringing wires (as in cableaccess broadband) or the distance limitations of Digital Subscriber Line. There are two flavors of WiMax: 802.16-2004 or 802.16d, for fixed implementations, and 802.16e, for mobile service 2G Most common type of wireless telephone communication today. It allows slow data communication, but its primary focus is voice. 3G 3G stands for the third generation of wireless communication technology. It refers to pending improvements in wireless data and voice communications through any of a variety of proposed standards. The immediate goal is to raise transmission speeds to 2Mbit/sec. Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) Code Division Multiple Access is a digital cellular technology that uses spread spectrum techniques that, instead of separating users by frequency, separates them through the use of digital frequency codes across the full available spectrum. Competes with GSM and TDMA CDMA2000 CDMA2000 is a radio transmission technology for the evolution of narrowband cdmaOne/IS-95 to 3rd-generation adding up multiple carriers.

April 2008

ISM (Industrial, Scientific and Medical) Industrial Scientific and Medical bands were originally created for the purpose of short range connectivity between equipment used in these fields of application. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) A government agency in the United States. The FCC’s recent limitations on EMI have greatly affected digital electronic systems and power supplies in design and production VoIP

42 | P a g e Voice over Internet Protocol is a system for delivering digitized voice communications across IP networks. VoIP technology allows phone calls to be made between compatible handsets or on computers with appropriate software.

ETSI (The European organization) The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) is a standardization organization of the telecommunications industry (equipment makers and network operators) in Europe, with worldwide projection. ETSI has been successful in standardizing the GSM cell phone system. Bluetooth A short-range radio technology aimed at simplifying communications among various devices. It is most often used for nonnetwork/Internet applications, such as remote controls, wireless headsets, mice and keyboards, and printers. GPRS General Packet Radio Service technology runs at speeds up to 115Kbit/sec., compared with the 9.6Kbit/sec. of older GSM systems. It enables high-speed wireless Internet and other communications such as e-mail, games and applications. It supports a wide range of bandwidths and is an efficient use of limited bandwidth. It's particularly suited for sending and receiving small amounts of data, such as e-mail and Web browsing, as well as large volumes of data. GSM Global System for Mobile Communications is a digital cellular system based on TDMA narrowband technology, which gives users access to time slots on the same frequency bands. It allows up to eight simultaneous communications on the same frequency. It competes with CDMA CDPD Cellular Digital Packet Data technology is used by telecommunications carriers to transfer data to users via unused analog cellular networks. If one part of the network -- a specific geographic area or "cell" -- is overused, CDPD can automatically reallocate network resources to handle extra traffic. Gateway The Internet protocol (IP) address of the router, switch, cable, or digital subscriber line (DSL) modem through which your PCs gain access to the Internet or foreign (nonlocal) networks.

April 2008

Mobitex Mobitex is a packet-switched, narrowband PCS network, designed for wide-area wireless data communications. It was developed in 1984 by Eritel, an Ericsson subsidiary, a nd there are now over 30 Mobitex networks in operation worldwide AT&T Wireless AT&T Wireless Services, Inc. was, before October 26, 2004, the third-largest wireless telephone carrier in the United States, based in Redmond, Washington, and trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock symbol, AWE. Formerly part of AT&T Corp., as of January 1, 2004, the largest single shareholder of AT&T Wireless was Japan's NTT DoCoMo.

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Sprint PCS Sprint Corporation is one of the world's largest telecommunication companies. It is a global communications provider and a major competitor in the American cellular phone market, through its Sprint PCS service based on CDMA and PCS, and local telephone service in some smaller markets. It is also a Tier 1 internet service provider under the name SprintLink. Verizon Verizon Communications is a New York City-based local exchange telephone company formed by the merger of Bell Atlantic, a former Bell Operating Company, and GTE, which was the largest independent local-exchange telephone company in the U.S., with presence in most all of the continental United States and Hawaii. NDIS Network Driver Interface Specification - definition of interface between the local network operating system and the network adapter. CSMA/CA Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance is the principle medium access method employed by IEEE 802.11 WLANs. It is a "listen before talk" method of minimizing (but not eliminating) collisions caused by simultaneous transmission by multiple radios. IEEE 802.11 states collision avoidance method rather than collision detection must be used, because the standard employs half duplex radios - radios capable of transmission or reception, but not both simultaneously. MAC Every wireless 802.11 device has its own specific Media Access Control address hard-coded into it. This unique identifier can be used to provide security for wireless networks. When a network uses a MAC table, only the 802.11 radios that have had their MAC addresses added to that network's MAC table are able to get onto the network. Abstract Syntax Notation (ASN) An OSI language used to define datatypes for networks. It is used within TCP/IP to provide conformance with the OSI model. Distribution system (DS) Means a distribution network, together with the connection assets associated with the distribution network, which is connected to another transmission or distribution system.

April 2008

International Telecommunication Union (ITU) CTIA The Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association is the international organization that aims to represent all elements of wireless communication - cellular, personal communications services, enhanced specialized mobile radio and mobile satellite services and serves the interests of service providers, manufacturers and others.

44 | P a g e Accenture Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. Its organizational structure includes divisions based on client industry types and employee workforces. Industry divisions, referred to as Operating Groups, include Products, Communications and High Technology,

QWERTY The name QWERTY for our typewriter keyboard comes from the first six letters in the top alphabet row(The one below the numbers). It is also called the Universal Keyboard. It was invented by CLSholes who put together the prototypes of the first commercial typewriter back in the 1860`s. The keyboard arrangement was considered important enough to be included on Shole`s patent granted in 1878, some years after the machine was put into production EVDO Evolution Data Only,Evolution Data Optimized, often abbreviated as EVDO, EV-DO, EvDO, 1xEV-DO or 1xEvDO is a wireless radio broadband data protocol being adopted by many CDMA mobile phone providers in Japan, Korea, Israel, the United States, and Canada as part of the CDMA2000 standard GUnzip, WinTel Wintel is a colloquial, often pejorative, term used to describe desktop computers of the type commonly used in homes and businesses since the late 1980s. NIST NIST in the Department of Commerce’s Technology Administration was established by Congress to assist industry in the development of technology needed to improve product quality, modernize manufacturing processes, ensure product reliability, and facilitate rapid commercialization of products based on new scientific discoveries.

April 2008

TKIP In computing, TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol) is a security protocol defined in IEEE 802.11i specifications for WiFi networks to replace WEP. TKIP was designed to replace WEP without replacing legacy hardware. This was necessary because the breaking of WEP left WiFi networks without viable link-layer security.