Wireless Network Design - Essay Example

Wireless Network Design number: Lecturer: Wireless network is where users access internet without using cables. Multiple users are able to access and share resources simultaneously in an organization. The resources that can be shared by multiple users include the broadband internet connection, data files, audio and video streaming and the printers on the network among other resources. The users have different operating systems but are a still able to connect via the wireless network. Wireless network offers same internet access as the wired internet but without the process of drilling into the walls to fix the Ethernet cables and laying of the cables. This paper looks at implementing wireless network in an organization. Why should one use wireless instead of the traditional wired networks, the advantages and disadvantages of wireless network and the components of wireless network. The paper also looks at the configurations for wireless network. Below are the reasons for having the wireless network over wired networks. Flexibility is where one can be able to move around the laptop because the ports are portable and can access internet once they are within the access point. radio waves can penetrate walls. Laying of wires and drilling holes to have the computers connected from one office to another may not be allowed and it is also expensive to do it. The network can be maintained from any point once someone has the rights and privileges given the roaming features of wireless network. There is no communication planning where wireless communicates without plan while wired network need planning to communicate. Wireless connection replaces the ad hoc connection where high flexibility is attained within the office. When it comes to undesired environment such as during disasters wireless communication can survive, hence it is robust. The strength of having wireless internet is attributed to the fact that wires or cables are not required to connect each node on the network hence it is cheaper to install and maintain. While interface which results to packet errors and security concerns are some of the shortcoming of wireless network. Wireless network (Google images) Main design goals When designing the wireless network, the main goal is to ensure that services, which were offered by other modes of communication, are offered even more effectively. Therefore, the same data types and services should be available to the users after implementing it. The safety and security concerns of the data on the internet must be well addressed. This is because any person can attempt to access information illegally once on the network. Encryption mechanisms should be implemented to protect the privacy of the users and the organizational data. As privacy and confidentiality is ensured in the design of wireless network, the existing services of the organization should be transparent which means they should be available. Transmission technology for wireless networks The 802.22 network is the solution that will be implemented. The radio waves is the frequency band that wireless network communication occur as explained below. Communication Radio The two protocols both operate in spectrum technique in 2.4 GHz band (in the range of 2.4 to 2.4835 GHz) with 83.5 MHz total bandwidth. 802.11 uses; DSSS, CCK and OFDM techniques. The technique has method and mechanisms of adapting to noise, where the 802.11 uses 1 to 54 Mb/s signal rate to protect its protocol from noise. Adaption to noise is done in physical layer in 802.11 where it is transparent to higher layers. a wireless router for 802.11n/g/b (connectgear.com) 802.11a This wireless network has capabilities of transmission speeds going to 300Mbps. The frequency range of this technology is 2.4GHz to 5.0 GHz. It is the most recent wireless technologies standards. It is well suited for connections that are meant for streaming purposes and also for connections, which are meant for heavy, downloads and uploads. The beauty of this technology is that it has backward compatibility with older standards like 802.11g 802.11b This standard operates in 2.4GHz band only. There is no other range that the network operates. The main advantage of this network standard is that weaknesses of signals due to distance are really solved. It is suitable for networks where the range is far more important than the bandwidth. It has better range and penetration. Given the same distance and obstacle, the throughput will be seen to degrade. This connection is well suited for connection used for Internet access and general web surfing. For the connections which are used for LAN (file sharing and video streaming), then this network is not the recommended one. The 802.11g and 802.11a are well suited for this. Clients using the 802.11b network and operating in an 802.11g will force the access points to transmit signals in B mode and in so doing will nullify the advantages that come with G network. A laptop batter will last longer if the laptop is operating in this mode. 802.11g This standard is popular in the high bandwidth it uses. The operation of the bandwidth in which it operates is 54Mbps compared to 11Mbps that are used by 802.11b networks. The advantages that come with this network standard include the fact that it is compatible with the other standards. This means that a laptop with the 802.11g card is still in a position to access the B and A networks. Another advantage is that it is cheaper when compared to the standards. 802.11 wireless connection setup (adapted from www.exforsys.com) Components of wireless network Local area network and wireless local area network share communication backbone where WLAN connects to LAN and allows users to connect to it wirelessly. The basic components of wireless network include: 1. Access point AP) This is a device that link wireless network to wired network LAN. This is what increases the management features of wireless network and the accessibility range of the wireless network. AP are required for larger computers and they are used to add wireless network to already existing wired network of the organization. Small network such as the ad hoc wireless of three computers to do not need the AP. 2. Client bridge 3. Repeater or a router this is a device used to share a single internet connection among many users. A single internet connection within an offices allows multiple users to access a single internet connection. 4. PC card This is what enable the laptops to wirelessly connect to the network. Challenges of wireless network and possible solutions 1. Radio frequency interference Wireless network can experience interference in many perspectives. First within the building where waves bound back from reflective surfaces hence cause interference. Having many access point at the same point causes interference too. To solve the reflective waves interference, antennas are used to collect the weak signals amplify them and transmit them to the destination. Other devices such as the cellular phones microwaves and Bluetooth devices which operate in the same spectrum as wireless may cause interference. Techniques such as Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) and frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) are used to overcome these challenges. 2. Wireless security This is a concern not only for wireless network but for both wireless and wired network. Small organizations and home wireless network can secure their laptops using Wireless Equivalent Privacy (WEP) which uses 64 to 128 bit encryption which is designed for 802.11b networks. 5. References Carl Andren, Tim Bozych, Bob Rood and Doug Schultz, (February 1997), “PRISM Power Management Modes”, Intersil Americas Inc. application note , AN9665. Comaniciu, C., Mandayam, N., & Poor, H. (2005), Wireless networks: Multiuser detection in cross-layer design. NY: Springer. Exforsys inc, (January 2012), Bluetooth Vs 802.11b Wireless LANs, retrieved from, http://www.exforsys.com/tutorials/wireless/bluetooth-vs-802.11b-wireless-lans.html Feng, J. (2009), Wireless networks: Research, technology and applications. CA: Nova Science Publishers. 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