Tutorial 4: Wireless LAN's

Wireless networking has become quintessential to almost every network worldwide.  Both big and small, networks are extremely important for the transfer and sharing of information at the business site as well as at home. Wireless Local Area Networks, or Wireless LAN’s, are simple to set up and can become vital to any user.

Using a Network Interface Card, or NIC, are the devices that allow your computer or device to access a wireless network.  Usually integrated into most notebooks and PDA’s now, an adapter or USB device is usually necessary for the desktop computer.

Access Points are fixed pieces of equipment, such as a router, that connect to wired Ethernet cables and transfers data wirelessly to and from NIC’s.  To avoid interference, access points can be configured to transfer data on different channels, too.

Wi-Fi is the most common type of wireless network.  Using radio waves, Wi-Fi networks can usually transmit data up to 300 feet away from an access point.  Surveying the site at which the network is to be set up can greatly increase the useful distance of the network by trying different locations of the access point.  Obstructions, such as walls, elevators, and office equipment, as well as interference from electrical equipment can cause the useful range of the network to suffer greatly.  Also known as ‘802.11’ networking, there are several different classes of such networks that all vary in the amount of data transferred per second.

Wireless B – Roughly 6 mbps on a 2.4 GHz channel

Wireless G – Roughly 54 mbps on a 2.4 GHz channel

Wireless A – Roughly 54 mbps on an uncommon 5 GHz channel

Wireless N – Roughly 75 mbps actual transfer rate on either a 2.4 or 5 GHz channel

(These speeds are within the W-LAN only: The speed of your internet connection may vary)

Following are a couple of photos taken by myself of my personal home network. You can see the cable modem which is attached to a wireless access point.

            Though wireless LAN’s are easy and basic to set up, they do lack in Security without proper configuration.  Basic W-LAN’s are not encrypted and any data transferred over the network can be intercepted by an outside source creating a breach in security, privacy, and safety of all who use the network.  Using Wi-Fi Protected Access, or WPA, you can secure your network with the use of passwords and encryption.  It is a MUST that you use a very strong password consisting of case-sensitive lettering as well as numbers without the use of any words that can be found in the dictionary (i. e. no words, just letters and numbers in no particular order).  Also, to protect you from potentially harmful data or other problems, NEVER automatically connect to any wireless network.