TABLE OF CONTENTS This chapter provides an introduction to wireless local area networks (WLANs). It explains what a WLAN is and how it is different from both hard-wired and purely wireless local area network (LAN) solutions. There is also an introduction to the inherent security problems associated with wireless and wireless-aware networks as contrasted with their wired ancestors.
This chapter also details what a WLAN is and how it should be designed. It covers some of the pitfalls that you can run into when designing a WLAN. There are many factors that can affect a WLAN design, many of which are covered in this chapter providing an excellent understanding of the best way to create a secure, reliable, and useful WLAN.
A WLAN is a LAN that uses radio waves as the physical medium. In a traditional wired LAN, individual network stations are linked via some type of physical cabling. This cabling can vary from shielded copper wires to fiber-optic cables. Most office structures are wired throughout to facilitate networking using this medium.
The three main problems with physical cabling are cost, distance limitations, and mobility. The installation of any type of physical cabling requires a great deal of effort and is therefore very expensive. The cost to wire an average sized office building can be thousands of dollars. In addition, there are physical limitations as to the length of any given physical cabling scheme. These distances vary depending on the type of cable used, but there is...
