802.11 Wireless LAN fundamentals: a practical guide to understanding, designing, and operating 802.11 WLANs

✍ Scribed by Roshan, Pejman; Leary, Jonathan

• Publisher: Cisco Press
• Year: 2004
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 334
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Master the basics in designing, building, and managing a Cisco Aironet WLAN.

• Master the basics of Wireless LANs with this concise design and deployment guide
• Understand implementation issues for a variety of environments including vertical, SOHO, and enterprise networks
• Learn design and troubleshooting advice from real-world case studies

802.11 Wireless LAN Fundamentals gives networking engineers and IT professionals the knowledge they need to design, deploy, manage, and troubleshoot their own wireless local-area networks (WLANs). Starting with an overview of the technology and architecture of WLANs, the book goes on to explain services and advanced features that such applications can provide. Most importantly, it provides practical design guidance and deployment recommendations.

Wireless LANs connect computer networks via radio transmissions instead of traditional phone lines or cables. Benefits to these systems go well beyond getting rid of all the cables and wires. Campus networks can grow geographically larger while still retaining all their efficiency and speed. Additionally, cost savings can be realized when third-party phone lines are no longer necessary, saving the cost of line rental and equipment upkeep. Finally, flexibility in campus network design increases significantly for the networking professional, while the network accessibility and usefulness increases for the individual users.

802.11 Wireless LAN Fundamentals helps networking professionals realize these benefits by helping them understand how to design, build, and maintain these networks, as well as how to justify their value within organizations.

✦ Table of Contents

Content: Foreword. Introduction. 1. Ethernet Technologies. 802.3 Ethernet. 802.3u Fast Ethernet. Gigabit Ethernet. Summary. 2. 802.11 Wireless LANs. Overview of WLAN Topologies. 802.11 Medium Access Mechanisms. Nonstandard Devices. 802.11 MAC Layer Operations. Summary. 3. 802.11 Physical Layer Technologies. Wireless Physical Layer Concepts. 802.11 Wireless LANs. 802.11b WLANs. 802.11a WLANs. 802.11g WLANs. CCA. Summary. 4. 802.11 Wireless LAN Security. Wireless Security. Overview of Encryption. Encryption in the 802.11 Standard. Authentication Mechanisms in the 802.11 Standard. MAC Address Authentication. Security Vulnerabilities in the 802.11 Standard. Secure 802.11 WLANs. AES Encryption. Summary. 5. Mobility. Characteristics of Roaming. Layer 2 Roaming. Layer 3 Roaming. Summary. 6. QoS for 802.11 Wireless LANs-802.11e. Challenges for QoS in 802.11 Networks. QoS Mechanism Overview. Summary: The Challenges Facing EDCF and HCF. 7. Radio Frequency Essentials. Radio Basics. Antenna Basics. Receiver Performance Basics. System Performance. Unlicensed Wireless. U-NII Band WLAN Frequencies. Summary. Deploying Wireless LANs. WLAN Deployment and Application Impact. WLAN Deployment Planning. Site Survey. Upper-Layer Considerations. Summary. 8. The Future of Wireless LANs. Bluetooth. UWB. FSO. 100 Mbps WLANs. Summary. 9. WLAN Design Considerations. Considerations for Retail Stores. Healthcare Design Considerations. Enterprise Branch Office and Telecommuter Design Considerations. Education Design Considerations. Public Access Design Considerations. Public Safety Design Considerations. Summary. Glossary. Index.

✦ Subjects

Wireless LANs.