A Wireless Local Area Network ( Lan )

2260 Words5 Pages

Overview A wireless Local Area Network (LAN) is a moderate to high-speed flexible data communications system implemented as an extension to, or as an alternative for, a wired Local Area Network (Kolawole, 2014). In wireless LAN transmission making use of radio frequency to communicate over the air eliminates or at least minimizes the use of physically wired networks. From the beginning, IEEE 802.11 was designed to look and feel like IEEE 802 wired networks to include supporting all of the protocols and LAN management tools that operate on a wired LAN (O 'Hara & Petrick, 2005). The major differences in a wireless LAN and a wired LAN is of course that there are no wires (air link) and the mobility of the solution. What makes a wireless LAN such a convenient solution is the flexibility, scalability, and the simplicity of installation. A wireless LAN has the flexibility of being installed where wires cannot, without ever having to penetrate walls or barriers that would otherwise pose expensive solutions. Scalability means not only the choice of varied topologies but also the ease of changes that may need to be made to the configuration of the LAN. Simplicity in installation means that a LAN can be installed without the need or expense of pulling wires. It also means not having to purchase or install additional devices when connecting additional or multiple users. The flexibility, mobility, and ease of installation has made the use of wireless LANs very attractive to organizations like hospitals, universities, and businesses that want the ease of connecting wirelessly. However the understanding of wireless LANs has also extended its interest to home users. Wireless LANS are now the preferred method of connectivity for ho... ... middle of paper ... ...he art of networking without a network. Goldsmith, A. (2005). Wireless Communications. Cambridge University Press. Kolawole, S. F. (2014). Design of a Wireless Local Area Network for A 3-Floors Library. Asian Journal of Engineering and Technology Innovation, 1-7. Marg, R., Smith, J., & Woodhams, J. (2011). Controller-Based Wireless LAN Fundamentals. Indianapolis: Cisco Press. Miller, L. C. (2011). Home Networking Do-It-Yourself for Dummies. Hoboken: Wiley Publishing Inc. O 'Hara, B., & Petrick, A. (2005). IEEE 802.11 Handbook: A Designer 's Companion. New York: Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data. Singh, B. (2011). Data Communications and Computer Networks. PHI Learning. Stallings, W. (2009). Business Data Communications. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Education. Syngress. (2002). Building a Cisco Wireless LAN. Rockland: Syngress Publishing. ←OK .

More about A Wireless Local Area Network ( Lan )

Open Document