IEEE 802.11 is part of the IEEE 802 set of local area network (LAN) technical standards, and specifies the set of media access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) protocols for implementing wireless local area network (WLAN) computer communication. The standard and amendments provide the basis for wireless network products using the Wi-Fi brand and are the world's most widely used wireless computer networking standards. IEEE 802.11 is used in most home and office networks to allow laptops, printers, smartphones, and other devices to communicate with each other and access the Internet without connecting wires. IEEE 802.11 is also a basis for vehicle-based communication networks with IEEE 802.11p.
A wireless LAN (WLAN) is a wireless computer network that links two or more devices using wireless communication to form a local area network (LAN) within a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, campus, or office building. This gives users the ability to move around within the area and remain connected to the network. Through a gateway, a WLAN can also provide a connection to the wider Internet.
A wireless network is a computer network that uses wireless data connections between network nodes. Wireless networking allows homes, telecommunications networks and business installations to avoid the costly process of introducing cables into a building, or as a connection between various equipment locations. Admin telecommunications networks are generally implemented and administered using radio communication. This implementation takes place at the physical level (layer) of the OSI model network structure.
Wi-Fi is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio waves. These are the most widely used computer networks in the world, used globally in home and small office networks to link devices together and to a wireless router to connect them to the Internet, and in wireless access points in public places like coffee shops, hotels, libraries, and airports to provide visitors with Internet connectivity for their mobile devices.
In computer networking, a wireless access point, or more generally just access point (AP), is a networking hardware device that allows other Wi-Fi devices to connect to a wired network. As a standalone device, the AP may have a wired connection to a router, but, in a wireless router, it can also be an integral component of the router itself. An AP is differentiated from a hotspot which is a physical location where Wi-Fi access is available.
A wireless mesh network (WMN) is a communications network made up of radio nodes organized in a mesh topology. It can also be a form of wireless ad hoc network.
Voice over Wireless LAN (VoWLAN), also Voice over WiFi (VoWiFi), is the use of a wireless broadband network according to the IEEE 802.11 standards for the purpose of vocal conversation. In essence, it is Voice over IP (VoIP) over a Wi-Fi network. In most cases, the Wi-Fi network and voice components supporting the voice system are privately owned.
Wireless security is the prevention of unauthorized access or damage to computers or data using wireless networks, which include Wi-Fi networks. The term may also refer to the protection of the wireless network itself from adversaries seeking to damage the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of the network. The most common type is Wi-Fi security, which includes Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA). WEP is an old IEEE 802.11 standard from 1997. It is a notoriously weak security standard: the password it uses can often be cracked in a few minutes with a basic laptop computer and widely available software tools. WEP was superseded in 2003 by WPA, a quick alternative at the time to improve security over WEP. The current standard is WPA2; some hardware cannot support WPA2 without firmware upgrade or replacement. WPA2 uses an encryption device that encrypts the network with a 256-bit key; the longer key length improves security over WEP. Enterprises often enforce security using a certificate-based system to authenticate the connecting device, following the standard 802.11X.
A computer network is a set of computers sharing resources located on or provided by network nodes. Computers use common communication protocols over digital interconnections to communicate with each other. These interconnections are made up of telecommunication network technologies based on physically wired, optical, and wireless radio-frequency methods that may be arranged in a variety of network topologies.
In computing, a wireless intrusion prevention system (WIPS) is a network device that monitors the radio spectrum for the presence of unauthorized access points (intrusion detection), and can automatically take countermeasures (intrusion prevention).
A residential gateway is a small consumer-grade gateway which bridges network access between connected local area network (LAN) hosts to a wide area network (WAN) via a modem, or directly connects to a WAN, while routing. The WAN is a larger computer network, generally operated by an Internet service provider.
Lightweight Access Point Protocol (LWAPP) is the name of a protocol that can control multiple Wi-Fi wireless access points at once. This can reduce the amount of time spent on configuring, monitoring or troubleshooting a large network. The system will also allow network administrators to closely analyze the network.
Split tunneling is a computer networking concept which allows a user to access dissimilar security domains like a public network and a local area network or wide area network at the same time, using the same or different network connections. This connection state is usually facilitated through the simultaneous use of a LAN network interface controller (NIC), radio NIC, Wireless LAN (WLAN) NIC, and VPN client software application without the benefit of an access control.
Wireless Zero Configuration (WZC), also known as Wireless Auto Configuration, or WLAN AutoConfig, is a wireless connection management utility included with Microsoft Windows XP and later operating systems as a service that dynamically selects a wireless network to connect to based on a user's preferences and various default settings. This can be used instead of, or in the absence of, a wireless network utility from the manufacturer of a computer's wireless networking device. The drivers for the wireless adapter query the NDIS Object IDs and pass the available network names (SSIDs) to the service. The service then lists them in the user interface on the Wireless Networks tab in the connection's Properties or in the Wireless Network Connection dialog box accessible from the notification area. A checked (debug) build version of the WZC service can be used by developers to obtain additional diagnostic and tracing information logged by the service.
RUCKUS Networks is a brand of wired and wireless networking equipment and software owned by CommScope. Ruckus offers Switches, Wi-Fi access points, CBRS access points, Controllers, Management systems, Cloud management, AAA/BYOD software, AI and ML analytics software, location software and IoT controller software products to mobile carriers, broadband service providers, and corporate enterprises. As a company, Ruckus invented and has patented wireless voice, video, and data technology, such as adaptive antenna arrays that extend signal range, increase data rates, and avoid interference, providing distribution of delay-sensitive content over standard 802.11 Wi-Fi.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise and its predecessor entities have a long history of developing and selling networking products. Today it offers campus and small business networking products through its wholly owned company Aruba Networks which was acquired in 2015. Prior to this, HP Networking was the entity within HP offering networking products.
Meru Networks was a supplier of wireless local area networks (WLANs) to healthcare, enterprise, hospitality, K-12 education, higher education, and other markets. Founded in 2002 and headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States, the company made its initial public offering in March 2010, and was acquired by Fortinet in May 2015.
In computer networking, single-channel architecture (SCA) is the design of a wireless network in such a way that the wireless client sees a single point of access to the network. This design utilizes a centralized controller to decide which access point (AP) will be used to communicate with a client device. This method allows the network to maintain a higher level of control over the communication medium than does multiple-channel architecture, which allows client devices to determine which APs to communicate with.
In computer networking, multiple-channel architecture (MCA) is the design of a wireless network in such a way that the client sees multiple points of access to the wireless network. MCA allows wireless clients to choose which access points (APs) to communicate with for access to the network, in contrast to single-channel architecture, which gives more control to the centralized network devices such as the wireless LAN controller.
LTE-WLAN aggregation (LWA) is a technology defined by the 3GPP. In LWA, a mobile handset supporting both LTE and Wi-Fi may be configured by the network to utilize both links simultaneously. It provides an alternative method of using LTE in unlicensed spectrum, which unlike LAA/LTE-U can be deployed without hardware changes to the network infrastructure equipment and mobile devices, while providing similar performance to that of LAA. Unlike other methods of using LTE and WLAN simultaneously, LWA allows using both links for a single traffic flow and is generally more efficient, due to coordination at lower protocol stack layers.
