Wireless LANs (WLANs) use radio waves to connect devices within a limited area like a home or office, allowing users mobility. WLANs have components like access points and clients that communicate in basic service sets to form extended service sets connected by a distribution system. WLANs operate in either infrastructure mode with clients connecting through an access point or ad hoc mode with direct peer-to-peer communication. Wireless broadband provides high-speed internet through wireless networks, delivering fixed broadband to stationary devices through technologies like LMDS or mobile broadband through cell towers with varying speeds depending on location.
Wireless LANs (WLANs) use radio waves to connect devices within a limited area like a home or office, allowing users mobility. WLANs have components like access points and clients that communicate in basic service sets to form extended service sets connected by a distribution system. WLANs operate in either infrastructure mode with clients connecting through an access point or ad hoc mode with direct peer-to-peer communication. Wireless broadband provides high-speed internet through wireless networks, delivering fixed broadband to stationary devices through technologies like LMDS or mobile broadband through cell towers with varying speeds depending on location.
Wireless LANs (WLANs) use radio waves to connect devices within a limited area like a home or office, allowing users mobility. WLANs have components like access points and clients that communicate in basic service sets to form extended service sets connected by a distribution system. WLANs operate in either infrastructure mode with clients connecting through an access point or ad hoc mode with direct peer-to-peer communication. Wireless broadband provides high-speed internet through wireless networks, delivering fixed broadband to stationary devices through technologies like LMDS or mobile broadband through cell towers with varying speeds depending on location.
Wireless LANs (WLANs) use radio waves to connect devices within a limited area like a home or office, allowing users mobility. WLANs have components like access points and clients that communicate in basic service sets to form extended service sets connected by a distribution system. WLANs operate in either infrastructure mode with clients connecting through an access point or ad hoc mode with direct peer-to-peer communication. Wireless broadband provides high-speed internet through wireless networks, delivering fixed broadband to stationary devices through technologies like LMDS or mobile broadband through cell towers with varying speeds depending on location.
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
Download as docx, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1/ 3
Wireless LANS-Broadband wireless-Data link layer switching
wireless LANs? Wireless LANs (WLANs) are wireless computer networks that use high-frequency radio waves instead of cables for connecting the devices within a limited area forming LAN (Local Area Network). Users connected by wireless LANs can move around within this limited area such as home, school, campus, office building, railway platform, etc. Most WLANs are based upon the standard IEEE 802.11 standard or WiFi.
Components of WLANs The components of WLAN architecture as laid down in IEEE 802.11 are − Stations (STA) − Stations comprises of all devices and equipment that are connected to the wireless LAN. Each station has a wireless network interface controller. A station can be of two types − o Wireless Access Point (WAP or AP) o Client Basic Service Set (BSS) − A basic service set is a group of stations communicating at the physical layer level. BSS can be of two categories − o Infrastructure BSS o Independent BSS Extended Service Set (ESS) − It is a set of all connected BSS. Distribution System (DS) − It connects access points in ESS.
Types of WLANS WLANs, as standardized by IEEE 802.11, operates in two basic modes, infrastructure, and ad hoc mode. Infrastructure Mode − Mobile devices or clients connect to an access point (AP) that in turn connects via a bridge to the LAN or Internet. The client transmits frames to other clients via the AP. Ad Hoc Mode − Clients transmit frames directly to each other in a peer-to-peer fashion. Advantages of WLANs They provide clutter-free homes, offices and other networked places. The LANs are scalable in nature, i.e. devices may be added or removed from the network at greater ease than wired LANs. The system is portable within the network coverage. Access to the network is not bounded by the length of the cables. Installation and setup are much easier than wired counterparts. The equipment and setup costs are reduced. Disadvantages of WLANs Since radio waves are used for communications, the signals are noisier with more interference from nearby systems. Greater care is needed for encrypting information. Also, they are more prone to errors. So, they require greater bandwidth than the wired LANs. WLANs are slower than wired LANs.
Wireless broadband Wireless broadband (WiBB) a networking technology designed to impart highspeed Internet and data service through wireless networks. Wireless broadband may be delivered through wireless local area networks (WLANs) or wide area networks (WWANs). Similar to other wireless services, wireless broadband can be either fixed or mobile.
Features of WiBB WiBB is similar to wired broadband service since they connect to an internet backbone, with the difference that they use radio waves instead of cables to connect to the last mile of the network. The range of most broadband wireless access (BWA) services varies around 50 km from the transmitting tower. Download speeds provided by some wireless Internet service providers (WISPs) are over 100 Mbps. WiBB mostly provides asymmetrical data rates for downloads and uploads. WiBB may also be symmetrical, i.e. they have the same data rate in both downstream as well as upstream. This is most seen only in fixed wireless networks. Any device connected to WiBB needs to be equipped with a wireless adapter to translate data into radio signals which can be then transmitted using an antenna. Types of WiBB
Fixed Wireless Broadband
Fixed WiBB provides wireless Internet services for devices located in more or less fixed locations, like homes and offices. The services are comparable to those provided through digital subscriber line (DSL) or cable modem, with the difference that it has wireless mode of transmission. The two main technologies used in fixed WiBB are −
LMDS (Local Multipoint Distribution System)
MMDS (Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service) systems Mobile Wireless Broadband Mobile WiBB, also called mobile broadband, provides high – speed broadband the connection from mobile phone service providers which is accessible from random locations. The locations are within the coverage area of the phone towers of mobile service provider and the connections are subject to monthly service plan subscribed by the user. Mobile broadband can be costlier due to its portability. Also, they generally have varying or limited speed except in urban areas.
