Northridge Consulting

Group
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WIRELESS NETWORKING OPTIONS

A PRESENTATION FOR

WIRELESS NETWORKING
SETUP AND CONFIGURATIONS
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Wireless Networking
Setup and hree configurations
Configurations

Overview
of WLAN’s

 Basic Service Set

 Extended Service Set

 Independent Service Set

 Overview continued…….
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 WLAN is an acronym for Wireless Local Area

Wireless Local Network. It is usually called Wireless LAN. So it’s a
Area Network local network in your home, school, office or
company build without wires … thus it is Wireless.

Wireless Local  Wireless devices can connect to wire LAN backbone

Area Networks for communication with both wired and wireless
nodes.

 Replace wired LANs

Access Point
 IEEE 802.11 standard
Configuration

 ad-hoc network
Two types
 Infrastructure network
 The Media Access Control Layer Standards or (MAC)
Performs several vital functions in a WLAN.
These functions can be broken into four distinct classifications:

 Discovering a WLAN signal

Joining the WLAN
Transmitting on a WLAN
And remaining connected to the WLAN

The mechanics of how these functions are performed center around the frames that are
sent and received in a WLAN.

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 Discovering the WLAN
Part 1

he first major function of the MAC layer involves defining procedures for a wireless
device to discover the WLAN.
When a wireless device is powered on or roams into an area of wireless coverage it
must find or discover the access point or other wireless devices.

This discovery is a twofold process: the AP or other wireless devices must transmit an
appropriate frame, and the wireless device must be looking for those frames.

Beaconing
At regular intervals the AP in an infrastructure network or wireless device in an ad hoc
network sends a beacon frame both to announce its presence and to provide the
necessary information for other devices to join the network. This process is known as
beaconing.
 Discovering the WLAN
Part 2
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And then there is Scanning….

Just as the AP (or wireless device) must transmit a beacon frame,

the receiving wireless device must be looking for those frames.
This is known as scanning.

There are two types of scanning

The first is called passive scanning & active scanning.

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 Which is a group of wireless devices that is served by

a single Access Point (AP)
The Basic
Service Set  The Basic Service Set (BBS) is a term used to
describe the collection of Stations which may
communicate together within an 802.11 Wireless
Local Area Network.

 The BSS may or may not include Access Point which

provides a connection onto a fixed distribution
system such as an Ethernet network or
 Hard line.

 This chart is an example of the Basic Service Set which includes a

weird network via hard line to an access point. This set up gives
internet access to both A and B nodes (sections).
 The Basic Service Set
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 Wireless LAN networking works  In ad hoc mode (also known as
in either of the two modes: Ad-hoc peer-to-peer mode), wireless
and Infrastructure. devices communicate with each
 In infrastructure mode, wireless other directly and do not use an
devices communicate to a wired access point. This is an
LAN via access points. Independent BSS (IBSS).
 Infrastructure mode wireless  Each access point and its wireless
networking bridges (joins) a devices are known as a Basic
Service Set (BSS).
wireless network to a wired
Ethernet network.
 Infrastructure mode wireless also
supports central connection points
for WLAN clients.
 The Basic Service Set
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Advantages Disadvantages

Infrastructure mode The disadvantage of

networks offer the
advantage of scalability
 centralized security
management and
improved reach.
infrastructure wireless
networks is simply the
additional cost to
purchase AP hardware.
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 An ESS is comprised of two or more

Basic Service Set networks that are
Extended Service connected through a common
Set or (ESS) distribution system.

 APs are connected by distribution

system (DS) typically: an Ethernet
switch

For example the chart has a router connected to access points

and the internet with support wireless networks.
 Extended Service Set
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 The Access Points or (AP) can be positioned
so that the cells overlap to facilitate
movement between cells known as roaming.
 When a mobile wireless user enters into the
range of more than one AP, the wireless
device will choose an AP based on signal
strength.
 The mobile device continues to survey the
appropriate radio frequencies at regular
intervals to determine if a different AP can
provide better service.
 If it finds one, then the device associates In an ESS environment, users are able to move from one access
with the new AP ;The process is called a point to another without losing the connection.
handoff, tuning to the radio frequency of the In this diagram, when the user moves from BSS (1) to BSS (2) the
WLAN client devices automatically switches to the channel
new AP. used in BSS (2).
 To the user it is seamless because the
wireless device never has an interruption of
service.
 Extended Service Set
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Advantages Disadvantages

 One of the weaknesses of the IEEE

 When an ESS is installed it is
desirable to configure the areas of
coverage much like cells in a cellular
telephone system.
 By using multiple access points a
Extended Service Set can
accommodate additional users over a
wider area.
 Because of the “Hand Off” to the user
the service is seamless because the
wireless device never has an
interruption of service.
802.11 standard is that it does not
specify how a handoff should take
place.
 Because roaming between APs of
different vendors can sometimes be a
problem, some industry experts
recommend that all APs in an ESS be
from the same vendor.
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Independent  An IBSS is a wireless network that does not use an

Service Set or access point.
(IBSS)
 It is also known as Peer-to-Peer or Ad Hoc Mode
 Where wireless devices communicate directly between
themselves.

 An IBSS network is the simplest of all IEEE 802.11

networks in that no network infrastructure is required.
 As such, an IBSS is simply comprised of one or more
Stations which communicate directly with each other.
 Service Set Identifier (SSID), also known as the
wireless network name,
 eer-to-Peer Configuration (Ad Hoc Wireless LAN)
Wireless devices create a LAN by communicating directly with other as
pictured in the chart below.

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 Independent Service Set
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Advantages
 Ad-hoc networking is easy for
temporary setup
 But as long as the stations are within
range, you can, for example, share
and exchange files.
 owner getting-started costs
 no need to install base stations
 Well suited to free unlicensed
spectrum
 with power control & cooperative
relaying, each user contributes to
network capacity
Disadvantages
 Communication is limited to
stations that are within range.
 Capacity is the limiting factor: a
large mobility causes a high
volume of routing queries and
updates which brings along high
congestion, which leads to packet
losses.
 The capacity of wireless ad-hoc
networks can be very low, due to
the requirement that nodes
forward each others' packets.
 Security Within the WLAN
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 Today wireless networks are at least secure as wired. You only

have to use the right tools and configurations.
 The most important thing for WLAN security is to
simultaneously use WEP, WPA, MAC filtering, 802.1x and other
security options the network may be secure.
 There are two types of authentication supported by the 802.11
standard.
 Open system authentication & shared key authentication
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 Wireless authentication requires the wireless device to be
authenticated prior to being connected to the network. IEEE
Wireless 802.11 authentication is a process in which the AP accepts or
rejects a wireless device.
Authentication
Part 1  Open system authentication is the most basic (and the default)
method.
 After discovering the network through passive scanning or
active scanning and receiving the necessary information, the
wireless device sends an association request frame to the AP.
 The frame carries information about the data rates that the
device can support along with the SSID of the network it wants
to join.
 After receiving the association request, the access point
“considers” the request by comparing the SSID received with
the SSID of the network.
 If the two match then the wireless device is authenticated.
 The AP responds with an association response frame, which
contains either an acceptance or rejection notice.
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 The shared key authentication is when both the access point

Wireless and the wireless device are given the same key value (it is
Authentication “shared”) in advance.

Part 2  A wireless device sends an authentication frame to the

Access Point (AP).

 The AP sends back an authentication frame that contains a

block of text known as the challenge text.

 The wireless device must encrypt the text and return it to

the AP in an authentication frame.

 The AP then decrypts what was returned to see if it matches

the original challenge text.

 If it does, the access point sends an authentication frame

signifying the result of the authentication. Shared key
authentication is based upon the fact that only pre-approved
wireless devices are given the shared key.
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 The Solution
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 It may be recommended that D-Link switches and wireless access points as an alternative
to other expensive solutions.
 The D-Link solution offers lower initial buy-in
 Better overall performance
 Ease of management that lowers total cost of ownership over the long run.
 By using D-Link DWL-3200 model and Access Points in numerous strategic locations
throughout the high school campus.
 The APs connect to the main wired network
 Which features D-Link DES-1526 24-port POE switches.
 In total, you can deploy 10 access points and four switches, effectively blanketing an
approximate area of 200,000 square foot of heavy concrete building ( for which most
schools are constructed of) with seamless and centrally managed wireless coverage.
 The school manages everything centrally via Active Directory with RADIUS
authentication.
 The system would feature Wi-Fi Protected Access security with Temporal Key Integrity
Protocol which makes it easier to deploy RADIUS authentication.
 All users are managed through Active Directory, and the switches are all managed through
a simple, easy-to use Web utility.