Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi is a popular technology that allows an electronic device to exchange data wirelessly (using radio waves) over a computer network, including high-speed Internet connections.

The Wi-Fi Alliance defines Wi-Fi as any "wireless local area network (WLAN) products that are based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) 802.11 standards". However, since most modern WLANs are based on these standards, the term "Wi-Fi" is used in general English as a synonym for "WLAN". Internet access A Wi-Fi-enabled device can connect to the Internet when within range of a wireless network connected to the Internet. The coverage of one or more (interconnected) access points called hotspots can extend from an area as small as a few rooms to as large as many square miles. Coverage in the larger area may require a group of access points with overlapping coverage.

Advantages
Wi-Fi allows cheaper deployment of local area networks (LANs). Also spaces where cables cannot be run, such as outdoor areas and historical buildings, can host wireless LANs. Manufacturers are building wireless network adapters into most laptops. The price of chipsets for Wi-Fi continues to drop, making it an economical networking option included in even more devices. Different competitive brands of access points and client network-interfaces can inter-operate at a basic level of service. Products designated as "Wi-Fi Certified" by the Wi-Fi Alliance are backwards compatible. Unlike mobile phones, any standard Wi-Fi device will work anywhere in the world.

Range
Wi-Fi networks have limited range. A typical wireless access point using 802.11b or 802.11g with a stock antenna might have a range of 32 m (120 ft) indoors and 95 m (300 ft) outdoors. IEEE 802.11n, however, can exceed that range by more than two times. Range also varies with frequency band. Wi-Fi in the 2.4 GHz frequency block has slightly better range than Wi-Fi in the 5 GHz frequency block which is used by 802.11a. On wireless routers with detachable antennas, it is possible to improve range by fitting upgraded antennas which have higher gain in particular directions.

Interference
Wi-Fi connections can be disrupted or the internet speed lowered by having other devices in the same area. Many 2.4 GHz 802.11b and 802.11g access-points default to the same channel on initial startup, contributing to congestion on certain channels. Wi-Fi pollution, or an

excessive number of access points in the area, especially on the neighboring channel, can prevent access and interfere with other devices' use of other access points, caused by overlapping channels in the 802.11g/b spectrum, as well as with decreased signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) between access points. This can become a problem in high-density areas, such as large apartment complexes or office buildings with many Wi-Fi access points.

Wi-MAX
Wi-MAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is a wireless communications standard designed to provide 30 to 40 megabit-per-second data rates, with the 2011 update providing up to 1 Gbit/s for fixed stations. It is a part of a fourth generation, or 4G, of wireless-communication technology. Wi-Max far surpasses the 30-metre (100-foot) wireless range of a conventional Wi-Fi local area network(LAN), offering a metropolitan area network with a signal radius of about 50 km (30 miles). The name "Wi-MAX" was created by the Wi-MAX Forum, which was formed in June 2001 to promote conformity and interoperability of the standard. The forum describes Wi-MAX as "a standards-based technology enabling the delivery of last mile wireless broadband access as an alternative to cable and DSL". Wi-Max offers data-transfer rates that can be superior to conventional cablemodem and DSL connections, however, the bandwidth must be shared among multiple users and thus yields lower speeds in practice.

Internet access
Wi-MAX can provide at-home or mobile Internet access across whole cities or countries. In many cases this has resulted in competition in markets which typically only had access through an existing incumbent DSL (or similar) operator. Additionally, given the relatively low costs associated with the deployment of a Wi-MAX network (in comparison with 3G, HSDPA, xDSL, HFC or FTTx), it is now economically viable to provide last-mile broadband Internet access in remote locations.

Connecting
Devices that provide connectivity to a Wi MAX network are known as the subscriber station (SS). Portable units include handsets (similar to cellular smart phones); PC peripherals (PC Cards or USB dongles); and embedded devices in laptops, which are now available for Wi-Fi services. In addition, there is much emphasis by operators on consumer electronics devices such as Gaming consoles, MP3 players and similar devices. Wi MAX is more similar to Wi-Fi than to other 3G cellular technologies. The Wi MAX Forum website provides a list of certified devices. However, this is not a complete list of devices available as certified modules are embedded into laptops, MIDs (Mobile Internet devices), and other private labeled devices.

Gateways
Wi MAX gateway devices are available as both indoor and outdoor versions from several manufacturers. Many of the Wi MAX gateways that are offered by manufactures such as Alvarion, Airspan, ZyXEL, Huawei, Motorola, and Green Packet are standalone self-install indoor units. Such devices typically sit near the customer's window with the best signal, and provide:

An integrated Wi-Fi access point to provide the Wi MAX Internet connectivity to multiple devices throughout the home or business. Ethernet ports to connect directly to a computer. One or two analog telephone jacks to connect a land-line phone and take advantage of VoIP.

External modems
USB can provide connectivity to a Wi MAX network through what is called a dongle. Generally these devices are connected to a notebook or netbook computer. Dongles

typically have omni directional antennae which are of lower-gain compared to other devices, as such these devices are best used in areas of good coverage.

W.E.P (Wired Equivalent Privacy)

Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is a security algorithm for IEEE 802.11 wireless networks. Although its name implies that it is as secure as a wired
connection, WEP has been demonstrated to have numerous flaws and has been deprecated in favor of newer standards such as WPA2. In 2003 the Wi-Fi Alliance announced that WEP had been superseded by Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA).

WEP utilizes a data encryption scheme called RC4 with a combination of user- and system-generated key values. The original implementations of WEP supported encryption keys of length 40 bits and 24 additional bits of system-generated data (64 bits total). In an attempt to increase protection, these encryption methods were extended to support longer keys including 104-bit (128 bits of total data), 152-bit and 256-bit. When communicating over a Wi-Fi connection, the protocol encrypts the data stream using these keys so that it is no longer human readable but still can be processed by receiving devices. The keys themselves are not sent over the network but rather are generally stored on the wireless network adapter or in the Windows Registry.

Authentication
1. In Open System authentication, the WLAN client need not provide its credentials to the Access Point during authentication. Any client can authenticate with the Access Point and then attempt to associate. In effect, no authentication occurs. Subsequently WEP keys can be used for encrypting data frames. At this point, the client must have the correct keys. 2. In Shared Key authentication, the WEP key is used for authentication in a four step challenge-response handshake:

> The client sends an authentication request to the Access Point. > The Access Point replies with a clear-text challenge. > The client encrypts the challenge-text using the configured WEP key, and sends it back in another authentication request > The Access Point decrypts the response. If this matches the challengetext the Access Point sends back a positive reply.

W.P.A (Wi-Fi Protected Access)

Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and Wi-Fi Protected Access II (WPA2) are two security protocols and security certification programs developed by the Wi-Fi Alliance to secure wireless computer networks. The Alliance defined these in response to serious weaknesses researchers had found in the previous system, WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy). The WPA protocol implements much of the IEEE 802.11i standard. Specifically, the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP), was adopted for WPA. WEP used a 40-bit or 104-bit encryption key that must be manually entered on wireless access points and devices and does not change. TKIP employs a per-packet key, meaning that it dynamically generates a new 128-bit key for each packet and thus prevents the types of attacks that compromised WEP. WPA also includes a message integrity check. This is designed to prevent an attacker from capturing, altering and/or resending data packets. This replaces the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) that was used by the WEP standard. CRC's main flaw was that it did not provide a sufficiently strong data integrity guarantee for the packets it handled. Well tested message authentication codes existed to solve these problems, but they required too much computation to be used on old network cards. WPA uses a message integrity check algorithm called Michael to verify the integrity of the packets. Michael is much stronger than a CRC, but not as strong as the algorithm used in WPA2. Researchers have since discovered a flaw in WPA that relied on older weaknesses in WEP and the limitations of Michael to retrieve the key stream from short packets to use for re-injection and spoofing.

Hardware Support
WPA was specifically designed to work with wireless hardware that was produced prior to the introduction of the WPA protocol which had only supported inadequate security through WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy). Some of these devices support the security protocol only after a firmware upgrade. Firmware upgrades are not available for all legacy devices. Wi-Fi devices certified since 2006 support both the WPA and WPA2 security protocols. WPA2 may not work with some older network cards.

Security
Pre-shared key mode (PSK, also known as Personal mode) is designed for home and small office networks that don't require the complexity of an 802.1Xauthentication server. Each wireless network device encrypts the network traffic using a 256 bit key. This key may be entered either as a string of 64 hexadecimal digits, or as a passphrase of 8 to 63 printable ASCII characters.

W.P.A 2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access II)

WPA2 has replaced WPA. WPA2, which requires testing and certification by the Wi-Fi Alliance, implements the mandatory elements of IEEE 802.11i. In particular, it introduces CCMP, a new AES-based encryption mode with strong security. Certification began in September, 2004; from March 13, 2006, WPA2 certification is mandatory for all new devices to bear the Wi-Fi trademark. It provides enterprise and consumer Wi-Fi users with a high level of assurance that only authorized users can access their wireless networks. Based on the IEEE 802.11i standard, WPA2 provides government grade security by implementing the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) FIPS 140-2 compliant AES encryption algorithm and 802.1x-based authentication. There are two versions of WPA2: WPA2-Personal, and WPA2-Enterprise. WPA2-Personal protects unauthorized network access by utilizing a set-up password. WPA2-Enterprise verifies network users through a server. WPA2 is backward compatible with WPA.

Router
A router is a device that forwards data packets between computer networks, creating an overlay internetwork. A router is connected to two or more data lines from different networks. When a data packet comes in on one of the lines, the router reads the address information in the packet to determine its ultimate destination. Then, using information in its routing table or routing policy, it directs the packet to the next network on its journey. Routers perform the "traffic directing" functions on the Internet. A data packet is typically forwarded from one router to another through the networks that constitute the internetwork until it gets to its destination node.[1] The most familiar type of routers are home and small office routers that simply pass data, such as web pages and email, between the home computers and the owner's cable or DSL modem, which connects to the Internet through an ISP. More sophisticated routers, such as enterprise routers, connect large business or ISP networks up to the powerful core routers that forward data at high speed along the optical fiber lines of the Internet backbone.

Internet connectivity and internal use

Routers intended for ISP and major enterprise connectivity usually exchange routing information using the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). RFC 4098 standard defines the types of BGP-protocol routers according to the routers' functions:

Edge router: Also called a Provider Edge router, is placed at the edge of an ISP network. The router uses External BGP to EBGP protocol routers in other ISPs, or a large enterprise Autonomous System. Subscriber edge router: Also called a Customer Edge router, is located at the edge of the subscriber's network, it also uses EBGP protocol to its provider's Autonomous System. It is typically used in an (enterprise) organization. Inter-provider border router: Interconnecting ISPs, is a BGP-protocol router that maintains BGP sessions with other BGP protocol routers in ISP Autonomous Systems. Core router: A core router resides within an Autonomous System as a back bone to carry traffic between edge routers. Within an ISP: In the ISPs Autonomous System, a router uses internal BGP protocol to communicate with other ISP edge routers, other intranet core routers, or the ISPs intranet provider border routers. "Internet backbone:" The Internet no longer has a clearly identifiable backbone, unlike its predecessor networks. See default-free zone (DFZ). The major ISPs system routers make up what could be considered to be the current Internet backbone core. ISPs operate all four types of the BGP-protocol routers described here. An ISP "core" router is used to interconnect its edge and border routers. Core routers may also have specialized functions in virtual private networks based on a combination of BGP and Multi-Protocol Label Switching protocols. Port forwarding: Routers are also used for port forwarding between private internet connected servers. Voice/Data/Fax/Video Processing Routers: Commonly referred to as access servers or gateways, these devices are used to route and process voice, data, video, and fax traffic on the internet. Since 2005, most long-distance phone calls have been processed as IP traffic (VOIP) through a voice gateway. Voice traffic that the traditional cable networks once carried. Use of access server type routers expanded with the advent of the internet, first with dial-up access, and another resurgence with voice phone service.

Hub
A common connection point for devices in a network. Hubs are commonly used to connect segments of a LAN. A hub contains multiple ports. When a packet arrives at one port, it is copied to the other ports so that all segments of the LAN can see all packets. A passive hub serves simply as a conduit for the data, enabling it to go from one device (or segment) to another. So-called intelligent hubs include additional features that enables an administrator to monitor the traffic passing through the hub and to configure each port in the hub. Intelligent hubs are also called Manageable Hubs. A third type of hub, called a switching hub, actually reads the destination address of each packet and then forwards the packet to the correct port.

How Hub Works

The more precise and true definition of a network hub is that it is more like a variable port repeater, besides only being a common link for cluster of computers. The most

common operation it performs is that it repeats all the information it receives and forward it to all PC terminals attached to it. This repetition of data results in unnecessary data traffic being sent to the network. Therefore the data is sent in bulk without the identification of its destination. Whereas switches work in more efficient way, switches control the flow of data traffic in an organized way. A switch is an intelligent device. Switches can identify easily to which it has to send data. Transfer of appropriate data packets to appropriate units thus help to increase network bandwidth. Hence we can say that the use of switches instead of hubs lower the load of unnecessary data being sent to the network. This unnecessary data flow results due to the same amount of information sent to all units irrespective of their individual needs .hubs are used for small networks, however switches can serve the various purposes of large networks. Network hubs are devices which operate at layer one (physical layer) of the OSI model, as compared to switches which work on the layer 2(data link layer) of the OSI model. Often a switch and a hub is combined to make a switching hub, which serves the basic purpose of transporting the right data packets to right place. However this network hub comes under the head of hubs and not switches.

Switch
A network switch or switching hub is a computer networking device that connects network segments or network devices. The term commonly refers to a multiport network bridge that processes and routes data at the data link layer (layer 2) of the OSI model. Switches that additionally process data at the network layer (layer 3) and above are often referred to as layer-3 switches or multilayer switches. A networking switch runs in full-duplex mode, meaning a machine on the LAN can receive and transmit data simultaneously. This is much faster than a networking hub, an alternate device that serves the same purpose as a switch but operates in half-duplex mode, allowing each machine or node either to send or receive at any given time. Another key difference between a networking switch and a hub is that the switch sends traffic discriminately, using addresses to direct traffic packets exactly where they are supposed to go. Conversely, a networking hub broadcasts all traffic on the network to all nodes, relying on filters within each machine to discard packets not addressed to it. For the above reasons, a networking switch is considered superior to a networking hub. However, a networking switch is also not foolproof. It can be "tricked" into accommodating packet sniffers, but the methods used to trick the switch will leave telltale traffic signatures, unlike the passive methods that can be used on a hub. Antisniffing software can be installed on a switched network to detect packet sniffers .

Function

A switch is a telecommunication device which receives a message from any device connected to it and then transmits the message only to that device for which the message was meant. This makes the switch a more intelligent device than a hub (which receives a message and then transmits it to all the other devices on its network.) The network switch plays an integral part in most modern Ethernet local area networks (LANs). Mid-to-large sized LANs contain a number of linked managed switches. Small office/home office (SOHO) applications typically use a single switch, or an all-purpose converged device such as a residential gateway to access small office/home broadband services such as DSL or cable internet. In most of these cases, the end-user device contains a router and components that interface to the particular physical broadband technology. User devices may also include a telephone interface for VoIP. An Ethernet switch operates at the data link layer of the OSI model to create a separate collision domain for each switch port. With 4 computers (e.g., A, B, C, and D) on 4 switch ports, A and B can transfer data back and forth, while C and D also do so simultaneously, and the two conversations will not interfere with one another. In the case of a hub, they would all share the bandwidth and run in half duplex, resulting in collisions, which would then necessitate retransmissions. Using a switch is called micro segmentation. This allows computers to have dedicated bandwidth on point-to-point connections to the network and to therefore run in full duplex without collisions.

Form Factor

Desktop, not mounted in an enclosure, typically intended to be used in a home or office environment outside of a wiring closet Rack mounted - A switch that mounts in an equipment rack Chassis - with swappable module cards DIN rail mounted - normally seen in industrial environments or panels