On the Wire

W ireless networking applications continue to proliferate at an incredible pace as wireless features, functions, security, and throughput improve. 802.11 is the standard on which wireless networking exists today, and products that employ the technology support a broad range of uses for enterprises and home users. With such explosive growth in infrastructure and applications, understanding some basics about the technology, and its limitations, can be very helpful amid claims from competing vendors about what 802.11 can do and what the future has in store. In this tutorial, I will explore the current environment of 802.11 wireless networking technologies and where the dialog in the standards bodies appears to be leading the industry. Our primary focus will be 802.11b in this tutorial. Future tutorials will provide focus on 802.11a, networking design considerations, and troubleshooting.