Introduction

Wireless LAN is a networking technology that

allows the connection of computers without any wires and
cables, mostly using radio and infrared frequency (RF)
technology. It's called LAN because the range targets
within an office, a building, a store, a small campus, or just
a house. The description of Wi-Fi is a mobile data
communication connectivity system installed and
configured as an alternative in some cases for traditional
LAN. The Wi-Fi equipment is capable of receiving and
sending data over an adequate range. In the United States,
the WLAN business is increasing in areas like the airports,
health-care, warehousing and manufactures. Several
research companies are predicting a healthy increase in
WLAN business market in the coming years. The WLAN
provides advantages over traditional LAN technology such
as buried cables in the ground, hidden cables behind walls,
and long cable runs measured in feet or miles.

Without restrictions, the new technology

infrastructure can easily be installed and ready to be used.
Current growth concerning network communication
technology in the enterprise communication environment
has resulted in widespread deployment of numerous
products that cover only a small part of the total mobile
and WLAN infrastructure required. The WLAN industry
has experienced phenomenal increase over the past ten
years. The U.S. wireless industry posted revenue of $40

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

• DEFINITION

Wi-Fi (short form of "wireless fidelity") is a term

for certain types of wireless local area network (WLAN)
that use specifications in the 802.11 family. The term Wi-
Fi was created by an organization called the Wi-Fi
Alliance, which oversees tests that certify product
interoperability. A product that passes the alliance tests is
given the label "Wi-Fi certified" (a registered trademark).

Originally, Wi-Fi certification was applicable

only to products using the 802.11b standard. Today, Wi-Fi
can apply to products that use any 802.11 standard. The
802.11 specifications are part of an evolving set of wireless
network standards known as the 802.11 family. The
particular specification under which a Wi-Fi network
operates is called the "flavor" of the network. Wi-Fi has
gained acceptance in many businesses, agencies, schools,
and homes as an alternative to a wired LAN. Many

DAFFODILS Wi-Fi
airports, hotels, and fast-food facilities offer public access
to Wi-Fi networks. These locations are known as hot spots.
Many charge a daily or hourly rate for access, but some are
free. An interconnected area of hot spots and network
access points is known as a hot zone.

Unless adequately protected, a Wi-Fi network

can be susceptible to access by unauthorized users who use
the access as a free Internet connection. The activity of
locating and exploiting security-exposed wireless LANs is
called war driving. An identifying iconography, called war
chalking, has evolved. Any entity that has a wireless LAN
should use security safeguards such as the Wired
Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption standard, the more
recent Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), Internet Protocol
Security (IPsec), or a virtual private network (VPN).

HISTORY OF WI-FI
Back in 1991 Wi-Fi was invented by NCR
Corporation/AT&T (later on Lucent & Agere Systems) in
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Nieuwegein, the Netherlands. Initially meant for cashier
systems the first wireless products were brought on the
market under the name Wave LAN with speeds of
1Mbps/2Mbps. Vic Hayes who is the inventor of Wi-Fi has
been named 'father of Wi-Fi' and was with his team
involved in designing standards such as IEEE 802.11b,
802.11a and 802.11g. In 2003, Vic retired from Agere
Systems. Agere Systems suffered from strong competition
in the market even though their products were cutting edge,
as many opted for cheaper Wi-Fi solutions. Agere's
802.11abg all-in-one chipset (code named: WARP) never
hit the market, Agere Systems decided to quit the Wi-Fi
market in late 2004.

How to Use Wi-Fi

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

STEPS

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

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 8. Click enable Mac address filtering, then type your
computer's Mac addresses in and save.
9. WAN connection type will most likely be set to
DHCP and should work fine at this setting for most
applications.
10. Fire up your computer with the wireless device
installed....You did type the Mac address for this device,
right?
11.Start wireless setup wizard in WindowsXP and it will
walk you through connecting to your router. Use manual
settings and check the box for WPA at the bottom.
Remember that wpa-psk key/password you made earlier?
You will input it here. SSID name will also be entered
here.
12.If you have more than 1 computer and you would like
to enable share files, click start my network places then if
you are using a Windows XP, on the side toolbar click
"set up a home or small office network" and follow the
steps with every computer
13. If all went smoothly you will now be able to
safely connect wirelessly.

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

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

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

Equipment Cost
•

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

Wi-Fi USERS

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

The various Wi-Fi standards

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

Name of
Name Description
standard
The 802.11a standard (called
WiFi 5) allows higher
bandwidth (54 Mbps
maximum throughput, 30
802.11a Wifi5
Mbps in practice). The
802.11a standard provides 8
radio channels in the 5 GHz
frequency band.
802.11b WiFi The 802.11b standard is
currently the most widely
used one. It offers a
maximum thoroughput of 11
Mbps (6 Mbps in practice)
and a reach of up to 300
metres in an open
environment. It uses the 2.4

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 GHz frequency range, with 3
radio channels available.
The 802.11c bridging
standard is of no interest to
the general public. It is only
Bridging 802.11 and an amended version of the
802.11c
802.1d 802.1d standard that lets
802.1d bridge with 802.11-
compatible devices (on the
data link level).
The 802.11d standard is a
supplement to the 802.11
standard which is meant to
allow international use of
local 802.11 networks. It lets
802.11d Internationalisation
different devices trade
information on frequency
ranges depending on what is
permitted in the country
where the device is from.
802.11e Improving service The 802.11e standard is
quality meant to improve the quality
of service at the level of the
data link layer. The
standard's goal is to define
the requirements of different
packets in terms of
bandwidth and transmission
delay so as to allow better
transmission of voice and
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 video.
The 802.11f is a
recommendation for access
point vendors that allows
products to be more
compatible. It uses the Inter-
Access Point Roaming
Protocol, which lets a
802.11f Roaming roaming user transparently
switch from one access point
to another while moving
around, no matter what
brands of access points are
used on the network
infrastructure. This ability is
also simply called roaming.

How Wi-Fi Useful In Communication?

Wireless technologies have played a major role in
opening up internet access — and thus the ability to
communicate with others in remote locations — to more
people in more places.

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

Why / Where Should We Use Wi-Fi

The Wi-Fi LAN has a broad application nowadays.

Because of the comfortable and quick installation people
often replace old wired LANs with Wi-Fi. Such connection
allows to move your machine around the place without
losing the Internet or other network resources. Working on
your laptop you can check your mail from anywhere in

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your home or office. Some highly attended places like
airports, libraries, schools or even coffee bars offer you
constant Internet connection using exactly wireless LAN,
so retrieving new files, cruising the global network or
corresponding with others will not be a problem anymore
in those (and many other) places.

The most important shortcoming in Wi-Fi is the

range. So far we may have difficulties in making a
connection with a receiver which is more than 50-75
meters away (inside the buildings). The signal should be
stronger to provide larger connectable spaces. Additionally,
some of the wireless adapters works on the frequencies that
are currently used by many other wireless devices. It can
cause a serious interference, so the connection performance
can be quite poor.

However, building Wi-Fi network is often the

cheapest way to achieve the desired connection with the
surroundings. The price of a single wireless adapter is
decreasing almost every day, so making a large network
area by means of Wi-Fi is the most reasonable way. You
will not need to arrange all the wires around and profit by
the installation time. By the way, most of the Wi-Fi
adapters have user-friendly configuration and diagnostic
tools which can help you to adjust or change your WLAN
settings or even can do everything for you.

Security
What about the security? Is there a possibility of
stealing our data? Security is your personal decision, but
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having a wireless connection we should pay attention to
protect our private files and encrypt sent messages.
Actually, the security modules were very important since
the beginning of the Wi-Fi projection. In order to prevent
intercepting your data by the others the designers
implemented many security techniques, like Wi-Fi
Protected Access (based on encryption), Virtual Private
Network (making virtual "tunnels"), Media Access Control
Filtering (rejecting unknown MAC addresses), RADIUS
Authentication and Authorization (using login and
password) or Kerberos (key distribution). There is also a
possibility to combine some of these security mechanisms
making your transmissions even more secure.

On the other hand providing such security in public

places (like Internet cafes) may not meet its expectations.
Connecting to protected wireless network you will be
asked about a security code, encryption key or a password.
If you do not know them, you will not be able to establish a
communication link and use Internet resources. Most of
public areas do not use security modules because of that
reason making Wi-Fi users data unsafe.

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TOPIC:

DAFFODILS Wi-Fi
SUB:

EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATION

DAFFODILS Wi-Fi
 Index

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sr.no. topic
1 introduction
2 history
3 How to use wi-fI
4 Advantages of wi-fi
5 Disadvantages of wi-fi
6 Equipment cost
7 Wi-fi users
8 The various wi-fi standard
9 How wi-fi useful in
communication
10 Why/where should we use
wi-fi

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