A Paper Presentation on

WIRELESS LOCAL AREA NETWORKS(WLANS)

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS & TELEMATICS SUBMITTED TO G.NARAYANAMMA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE (FOR WOMEN) By S.Ghousia Email ID: trytilluwin@yahoo.co.in N.Mamatha Email ID: mana732mamatha@yahoo.co.in

INTRODUCTION

Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) have moved quickly to the mainstream and are now found in many educational institutions, homes, businesses and public areas. Organisations and consumers have been keen to take advantage of the flexibility adding wireless networks can offer. A recent report from In-Stat predicts that the wireless market will grow from 140 million wireless chipsets a year in 2005 to 430 million in 20091. The emergence of new security standards has also increased confidence in WLANs. Users are becoming more familiar with the technology and are increasingly expecting wireless access to be available. There is a wide range of products and standards involved in WLAN technology and more continue to emerge. This paper will focus on wireless LANs and the issues surrounding their implementation
What is a WLAN?

WLANs case with an antenna. Access points function as transmitters and receivers between the nodes themselves or between the nodes and another network.. WLAN data transfer in itself is implemented by one of the following technologies: 1)
2) 3) Frequency Hopping Spread (FHSS) Direct Sequence Spread (DSSS) Infrared Technology Spectrum Spectrum

MAIN COMPONENTS OF WLANS:

WLAN is a flexible data communication system, which can be used for applications in which mobility is necessary or desirable. Using electromagnetic waves, WLANs transmit and receive data over the air without relying on physical connection. Current WLAN technology is capable of reaching a data rate of 11Mbps. Overall, WLAN is a promising technology for the future communication market.
How does a WLAN work?

A wireless LAN consists of two main components: 1)wireless-enabled devices 2) wireless access points. Before you can set up your wireless network, you should acquire at least one wireless access pointmore if your office space is very large. Then, be sure that every user who will connect to the network has a wirelesslyenabled device.

WLANs use radio, infrared and microwave transmission to transmit data from one point to another without cables. Therefore WLAN offers way to build a Local Area Network without cables. This WLAN can then be attached to an allready existing larger network, the internet for example. A wireless LAN consists of nodes and access points. A node is a computer or a peripheral (such as a printer) that has a network adapter, in

Wireless Network Interface Card (PCMCIA)

called an access point, is normally physically connected to the wired network using standard Ethernet cabling. It acts as a bridge between the wired network and the remote computer(s). At a minimum, the access point receives, buffers, and transmits data between the wireless LAN and the wired network infrastructure, using radio frequencies to transmit data to each user. The image below depicts a network in infrastructure mode.

Wireless Access Point Wireless Network Configuration There are two main types of wireless network configuration: ad-hoc mode and infrastructure mode. Ad-hoc networks are the simplest form of wireless network created by two or more wireless enabled computers communicating with each other directly. These types of WLANs are useful for creating small dynamic networks. However, these ad-hoc networks have similar limitations as wired peer to peer networks and are only really suitable for occasional, small networks of a few computers. Ad-hoc networks cannot provide the same security as properly implemented infrastructure mode networks

Advantages: What are the concrete benefits of WLAN over wired networks? While the most obvious is mobility, there are advantages also in building and maintaining a wireless network. Let us look at the benefits more closely: Mobility Mobility is a significant advantage of WLANs. User can access shared resources without looking for a place to plug in, anywhere in the organization. A wireless network allows users to be truly mobile as long as the mobile terminal is under the network coverage area.

Infrastructure mode requires one or more access points (APs) through which the network cards communicate. In a typical wireless LAN, a transmitter/receiver (transceiver) device,

Range of coverage The distance over which RF and IR waves can communicate depends on product design (including transmitted power and receiver design) and the propagation path, especially in indoor environments. Interactions with typical building objects, such as walls, metal, and even people, can affect the propagation of energy, and thus also the range and coverage of the system. IR is blocked by solid objects, which provides additional limitations. Most wireless LAN systems use RF, because radio waves can penetrate many indoor walls and surfaces. The range of a typical WLAN node is about 100 m. Coverage can be extended, and true freedom of mobility achieved via roaming. This means using access points to cover an area in such a way that their coverages overlap each other. Thereby the user can wander around and move from the coverage area of one access point to another without even knowing he has, and at the same time seamlessy maintain the connection between his node and an access point. Ease of use WLAN is easy to use and the users need very little new information to take advantage of WLANs. Because the WLAN is transparent to a user's network operating system, applications work in the same way as they do in wired LANs. Installation Speed, Simplicity and Flexibility Installation of a WLAN system can be fast and easy and can eliminate the need to pull cable through walls and ceilings. Furthermore, wireless LAN enables networks to be set up where wires might be impossible to install.

Scalability Wireless networks can be designed to be extremely simple or complex. Wireless networks can support large numbers of nodes and large physical areas by adding access points to extend coverage. Cost Finally, the cost of installing and maintaining a WLAN is on average lower than the cost of installing and maintaining a traditional wired LAN, for two reasons. First, WLAN eliminates the direct costs of cabling and the labor associated with installing and repairing it. Second, because WLANs simplify moving, additions, and changes, the indirect costs of user downtime and administrative overhead are reduced. Disadvantages of a WLAN: Radio signal interference Radio signal interference in WLAN systems can go two ways: The WLAN can cause interference to other devices operating in or near its frequency band. Or conversly, other devices can interfere with WLAN operation, provided their signal is stronger. The result is a scrambled signal, which of course prevents the nodes from exchanging information between each other or access points. WLANs using infrared technology generally experience line-of-sight problems. An object blocking this line between the two WLAN units is very likely to interrupt the transmission of data. Connection problem TCP/IP provides reliable connection over wired LANs, but in WLAN it is susceptible to losing connections, especially when the terminal is operating within the marginal

WLAN coverage. Another connection related issue is IP addressing. The wireless terminals can roam between access points in the same IP subnet but connections are lost if the terminal moves from one IP subnet to another. Network security This is an important aspect in WLAN. It is difficult to restrict access to a WLAN physically, because radio signals can propagate outside the intended coverage of a spesific WLAN, for example an office building. Some security measures against the problem are using encryption, access control lists on the access points and network identifier codes. The technical operation of WLANs also works against the intruder: Frequency hopping and direct sequence operation makes eavesdropping impossible for everyone else than the most sophisticated. Where are WLANs being used? The DfES Survey of Information and Communications Technology in Schools 2004 report indicated that, of the secondary schools with a network, 54% had some wireless LAN provision. For primary and special schools this figure was 21%2. In business: WLANs are increasingly being installed by business to provide flexible access, or for specific tasks such as stock taking in warehouses. In the wider community: Wireless networks can be used for public access to the internet. Commercially available public access wireless networks are more commonly known as hotspots and there are now thousands of these throughout the UK; located at railway stations, airports, hotels, in certain public libraries and in cafs and eating establishments. Some local authorities and commercial providers are

installing Wi-Fi networks to cover larger areas, such as city centres. On transport: Several airlines have in-flight WLAN availability. Wireless access is available on certain trains in many countries of the World. In the UK, several train operators have started on board wireless services Organization Educational Institutions Application Advantage

Health Care / Hospitals

Inventory Control

Manufacturing

Conference Centers

Education

Relocation of Classroom and devices to student different connectivity locations in classrooms Patient monitoring and access to Mobility patient medical information Connectivity for portable Real-time inventory reporting devices with central storage facility Network Relocation of connectivity devices to for machinery different in open locations locations and Hazardous hazardous environments environments Provide connectivity to Rapid attendees deployment with enabled devices Shared Mobility computer resources among student classrooms

and laboratories
ISM FREQUNCY BANDS Frequency (LowerLimit) 902 MHz 2.4 GHz Frequency (Upper Limit 928 MHz 2.4835 GHz Total Bandwidth 26 MHz 83.5 MHz

2) The most common ISM device in the 2.4GHz band is the domestic microwave oven WLAN Standards 802. 11b Max Speed
Hom eRF

IrDA

802. 11a 54M bps

802. 11g 54M bps 2.4G Hz

Blueto oth 1 Mbps 2.4 GHz

Organization
5.725 GHz

5.850 GHz 125 MHz Rapid establishment Mobility Tactical/Military of network with mobility Rapid support in network hazardous deployment environments

Application

Advantage

11M 10M bps bps

4Mb ps

Freque ncy 2.4 2.4 GHz GHz Indoor Range 150300 feet 150 feet

Light 5GH wave z s 1met er 150300 feet

Multimedia Resources

Provide wireless access to multimedia resources Rapid establishment of low cost network infrastructure Rapid establishment of low cost network infrastructure

Shared Resources Applic ation Low cost networking solution Low cost networking solution

150300 feet WL AN

30 feet

WL AN

WL AN

Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) Residential

Devi ce Bea ming

WL AN

Person al Area Netwo rk

Wireless Networking Standards and Specifications (Source: Anderson)

Comparison of WLAN Transmission Technologies WLAN Security Risks

WLAN Spectrum Allocation: Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) -designated Bands To assist with containing interference to radio communications from industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) devices, the ITU Radio Regulations specify various frequency bands as designated internationally for ISM applications. 1) The bands 2.4-2.5 GHz and 5.725-5.875 GHz are two such bands.
Transmission Technology
Range Limi tation Low / High

Signal Interception
Susceptibility

Susceptibil ity To
Interferenc e/ Jamming

Low / High

Spread Spectrum

Low

Low

Low

Narrowband Microwave

Low

High

High

Infrared

High

Low

High

Network Detection RF Signal Limiting Interference and RF Disruption Unauthorized Network Access Data Interception Denial of Service Insider Threat Compromised Devices Illicit Access Point Deployment