| Acknowledgments | p. xiii |
| Foreword | p. xvii |
| Preface | p. xix |
| Moving from Wired to Wireless Networks | |
| A Brief History of Wireless LANs | p. 3 |
| Radio, the Foundation of the Wireless LAN | p. 4 |
| A Founding Mother of Wireless LANs | p. 5 |
| Wireless Data Acquisition Systems: The Precursors of the Wireless LAN | p. 7 |
| The First Wireless LANs | p. 9 |
| 802.11: The First Wireless LAN Standard | p. 11 |
| A Summary of Common WLAN Standards | p. 13 |
| Globalization of Standards | p. 14 |
| Early Technology Adopters vs. Standards | p. 16 |
| Technological Maturity | p. 17 |
| Stability of Basic Design | p. 17 |
| Interoperability | p. 17 |
| How 802.11 and Other Standards Are Developed | p. 18 |
| Introduction of New Technology | p. 18 |
| Relatively High Interest by Developers | p. 19 |
| Deployment of Technology to Early Adopters | p. 19 |
| Standards Definition by One or More Technology Providers | p. 20 |
| Establishment of Standard by Standards Body | p. 20 |
| Ratification of Standard by Technology Providers | p. 21 |
| Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers | p. 22 |
| Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance and Wi-Fi | p. 27 |
| Competing WLAN Standards | p. 28 |
| The 802.11 Standard | p. 30 |
| The HomeRF Standard | p. 34 |
| The BlueTooth Standard | p. 35 |
| Understanding Radio Frequency Fundamentals | p. 37 |
| Frequency Basics | p. 40 |
| Power Transmission | p. 41 |
| Frequency Bands | p. 44 |
| Modulation | p. 44 |
| Spreading Techniques | p. 50 |
| Duplexing Techniques | p. 60 |
| Error Control | p. 61 |
| Earth Curvature Calculation for 802.11 Bridges | p. 64 |
| The RF Physical Layer | p. 65 |
| The RF Physical Layer--Layer 1 | p. 66 |
| The Fundamental Radio Elements | p. 66 |
| The Radio | p. 67 |
| The 802.11 Radio | p. 67 |
| The Primary MAC Layer Functions | p. 74 |
| Antennas | p. 78 |
| Designing Your Enterprise Wireless LAN | |
| Performance, Architechtural, and Interoperability Considerations | p. 91 |
| Wi-Fi Performance | p. 93 |
| The Data Rates Supported by Wi-Fi | p. 93 |
| What Really Matters: Throughput | p. 97 |
| Going the Distance: Range | p. 110 |
| Interoperability | p. 115 |
| Checklist | p. 117 |
| 802.11a and 802.11g: High Performance Wireless LAN Standards | p. 119 |
| Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing | p. 121 |
| Different Bands, Different Benefits | p. 123 |
| Checklist | p. 135 |
| Understanding the Regulatory Environment | p. 137 |
| They're Here to Help: The Regulatory Agencies Applicable to Wi-Fi | p. 138 |
| Regulatory Domains | p. 138 |
| The FCC Regulatory Domain | p. 140 |
| The ETSI Domain | p. 148 |
| The Japanese Regulatory Domain | p. 152 |
| Other Regulatory Domains | p. 153 |
| Checklist | p. 153 |
| WLAN Equipment and Component Selection | |
| Selecting the Right Wireless LAN Equipment Components | p. 157 |
| Defining the WLAN Requirements | p. 158 |
| Migrations of the Technology | p. 159 |
| Defining Your Technology Requirements | p. 161 |
| Selecting Necessary WLAN Services | p. 164 |
| Hardware Selection of the Access Point | p. 166 |
| Single or Dual Radio Architecture | p. 168 |
| Selecting the Client Product | p. 171 |
| Summary | p. 172 |
| Integrating WLAN into Your Network Infrastructure | |
| Wireless LANs in the Enterprise | p. 175 |
| What Is the Enterprise? | p. 176 |
| Wi-Fi Deployment in the Enterprise | p. 178 |
| Designating Areas | p. 178 |
| Capacity Planning | p. 183 |
| Coverage Planning: The Site Survey | p. 186 |
| Wi-Fi Management in the Enterprise | p. 199 |
| Maintaining the Infrastructure | p. 200 |
| Monitoring the Infrastructure | p. 202 |
| Checklist | p. 202 |
| Wireless LANs in Small, Branch, and Home Offices | p. 205 |
| The Primary Issues to Consider When Selecting 802.11 Equipment | p. 206 |
| How Will the WLAN Be Used? | p. 207 |
| Which Protocol--11b, 11a, or 11g? | p. 208 |
| How Many Access Points? | p. 209 |
| Which Vendor to Select for Access Points and Client Adapters? | p. 209 |
| Which Antennas to Select for the Access Points and Client Adapters? | p. 213 |
| What Security Protocol to Use? | p. 214 |
| Self-Installation or Professional Installation? | p. 215 |
| Who to Call If the Network Goes Down? | p. 215 |
| Where to Acquire Training for the Devices for Deployment and Use? | p. 215 |
| Summary | p. 216 |
| Wi-Fi Security Best Practices | p. 217 |
| Authentication and Encryption | p. 218 |
| Authentication | p. 218 |
| Encryption | p. 222 |
| WEP: When Equivalency Isn't Equal | p. 224 |
| 802.1X Authentication | p. 229 |
| Dynamic Encryption Keys | p. 231 |
| The 802.11i Standard | p. 233 |
| Different Types of Security for Different Applications | p. 239 |
| Checklist | p. 242 |
| QoS in Wireless LANs | p. 243 |
| Identifying Time-Sensitive Traffic | p. 246 |
| Prioritizing Traffic | p. 247 |
| The 802.11e Standard and WME | p. 247 |
| Enhanced Distributed Control Function | p. 249 |
| Hybrid Control Function | p. 251 |
| Checklist | p. 253 |
| 802.11 and the Last Mile | |
| Hotspots: Public Access of Wireless LANs | p. 257 |
| Where's the Wi-Fi? | p. 258 |
| Business Models for Hotspots | p. 260 |
| Settlements and Billing | p. 261 |
| Regulatory Issues | p. 263 |
| Early Wi-Fi Service Providers | p. 264 |
| Checklist | p. 265 |
| 802.11 In the Service Provider Market | p. 267 |
| U-NII, 802.11a and the Last Mile | p. 268 |
| 802.11 As Final Mile for Fiber Lateral Bypass | p. 280 |
| 802.11 for Extension of DSL and Cable | p. 281 |
| Practical Considerations for Using 802.11b for Final Mile | p. 281 |
| Two Notes of Advice for Final Mile and Service Providers | p. 285 |
| Venture Capital Aspects of Unlicensed vs. Licensed Spectrum | p. 287 |
| Audio, Video, Voice, and Data to a PDA over 802.11 at a Nuclear Power Plant | p. 291 |
| General Site and Industry Considerations | p. 292 |
| Site Survey Considerations | p. 295 |
| Hardware | p. 305 |
| Software | p. 306 |
| Security | p. 307 |
| 802.11 Network Uses | p. 309 |
| Glossary | p. 311 |
| Index | p. 345 |
| Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved. |