Wireless Operational Security
This comprehensive wireless network book addresses the operational and day-to-day security management requirements of 21st century companies.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Wireless Operational Security
Chapter 7: Wireless Networking Basics
Organizations are adopting wireless networking technologies to address networking requirements in ever-increasing numbers. The phenomenal rate of change in wireless standards and technology complicates the decision of how to implement or update the technology. In this chapter, we delve into the inner workings of the wireless LAN (WLAN) environment of today. We start by concentrating on the specific topic areas related to wireless networking technology. We explain how LANs and WLANs work, coexist, and interoperate. We discuss the varying wireless standards that exist today and look at some future standards. Mobile workforces drive the need for strong understanding of the issues surrounding mobile security, and we cover those issues in fairly extensive detail. Because mobile security requires encryption to work, we cover the various encryption standards in use today and explain the strengths and weaknesses of each. At the end of this chapter, you should have a fundamental grasp of the essentials of wireless networking. Now, let's begin by taking a look at WLANs.
7.1 Wireless Local Area Networks
In 1997, the IEEE ratified the 802.11 WLAN standards, establishing a global standard for implementing and deploying WLANs. The throughput for 802.11 is 2 Mbps, which was well below the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet counterpart. Late in 1999, the IEEE ratified the 802.11b standard extension, which raised the throughput to 11 Mbps, making this extension more comparable to the wired equivalent. The 802.11b standard also supports the 2-Mbps data rate and operates on the 2.4-GHz band in radio frequency for high-speed data...
Copyright John W. Rittinghouse and James F. Ransome 2004 under license agreement with Books24x7
