Wi-Fi

Recently there was an article writing competition in my company. Had giving it a try on the last day of submission. The topic was trending technology which you worked on/working on/wish to work on.

Wi-Fi (WLAN product based on IEEE 802.11 standard)

In the year 2011 there was a major breakthrough in the mode of connectivity in XYZ company considering the future business need. The breakthrough came in the name of SPECTRUM. The word SPECTRUM is very familiar in XYZ company, especially amongst all laptop users. This breakthrough happened when Wireless internet connectivity facility was given to XYZ company employees. Now wireless internet connectivity is through SPECTRUM. And the technology behind it is Wi-Fi.

Wi-Fi allows an electronic device to exchange data wirelessly over a network using radio waves. The network which supports wireless data transfer is Wireless local area network popularly known as WLAN.

Transition always happens for the betterment. The transition here is from Wired LAN to Wireless LAN. Before understanding the need of Wireless LAN one should understand about Wired LAN.

WIRED LAN

A group of network devices connected together forms a LAN. Typical LAN structure describes a group of computer systems connected to a hub which intern connects to a backbone server. The data transmission is done through Ethernet cables.

The major disadvantages of Wired LAN are

        Significant amount of money is spent on deployment of cables and labor. 

        There is no provision for mobility. 

     LAN network cannot be established in the areas where it is difficult to lay cables. 

        Space constraints

Above disadvantages in Wired LAN led to a wider usage of Wireless LAN.

WIRELESS LAN

WLAN typically extends an existing wired local area network. WLAN can be established using access points and the computer systems/clients which has wireless capabilities. An access point (AP) is a device that allows wireless devices to connect to a wired network. Wireless computer systems communicate with the access point using a wireless network adapter. Clients and Access points together form a service set. A service set is identified by service set identifier [SSID]. SPECTRUM is a SSID which is the Wi-Fi network name. WLAN computer communication is implemented in accordance with IEEE 802.11 standard. 

Having heard greatly about Wi-Fi technology, I was curious to understand how this technology successfully transfers data without using a wire.

I consider myself lucky because my career kick-started with a project based on this trend changing technology. The project was based on Access points. This gave me an opportunity to learn about the amazing features like access point initialization mechanism, clustering, WDS and many more. Below is the brief about these features.

Access point initialization:  Includes scanning, authentication and association. This explains how SPECTRUM name will be displayed on the Wireless networks available, what happens when we click on SPECTRUM to connect to wireless network.

     

  Clustering: Multiple access points combined together forms a cluster. Many configurations can be made on single access point and the same is applied to the access points in the cluster.  This allows single point of administration.

    

   WDS: A wireless distribution system (WDS) is a system enabling the wireless interconnection of access points. It allows a wireless network to be extended using multiple access points without the traditional requirement of a wired backbone to link them.

I have always found Wireless local area networking very interesting and challenging. Technology becomes famous only when it brings betterment in the life style and when it is easy to use and adopt. Wi-Fi has indeed achieved the purpose of the TECHNOLOGY.