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 |
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