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What is Wifi?
Wifi, which stands for wireless fidelity, is a wireless form of communication which was created within the last couple of years. Although hi fidelity stereo systems have used this method of communication for some time now, it is the first item it has been applied to computers.
Wireless networks are based on the 802.11 standard which defines two different modes, infrastructure mode and ad hoc mode. With infrastructure mode, the wireless network needs to have at least one access point which is connected to a wired network infrastructure. There can be two different configurations for the wired infrastructure. It can either include a set of wireless end stations, called BSS (Basic Service Set), or a set of multiple BSS sets which form a single sub network called ESS (Extended Service Set). The infrastructure mode is usually preferred because most WLANs require access to a wired LAN for services such as file servers, printers and Internet links.
The ad hoc mode involves a set of 802.11 wireless stations which are connected directly with each other without the need for an access point or a connection to a wired network. This mode ensures quick and easy configuration of a wireless network where a wireless infrastructure is not needed or doesn’t exist. This can be true in hotel rooms, conventions centres or airports where wired networks are usually forbidden.
When you are connected to a wireless network, you can do a lot of basic things such as check email, connect to conferences, access your home directory, browse the Internet, use programs such as a network word processor and use printing services. However, intensive things need to be avoided such as streaming audio or video, downloading very large files or viewing sites with intense graphics.
Although a wireless connection works the same way as an Ethernet connection, they can’t be compared in terms of speed. The speed of a wireless connection is about 11 megabits per second. However, all the users connected to a wireless network have to share the bandwidth between each other and as a result the network slows down and intensive operations take a long time to complete. For this reason a wireless network can never be as fast as a wired Ethernet network.
Wireless networks are based on the 802.11 standard which defines two different modes, infrastructure mode and ad hoc mode. With infrastructure mode, the wireless network needs to have at least one access point which is connected to a wired network infrastructure. There can be two different configurations for the wired infrastructure. It can either include a set of wireless end stations, called BSS (Basic Service Set), or a set of multiple BSS sets which form a single sub network called ESS (Extended Service Set). The infrastructure mode is usually preferred because most WLANs require access to a wired LAN for services such as file servers, printers and Internet links.
The ad hoc mode involves a set of 802.11 wireless stations which are connected directly with each other without the need for an access point or a connection to a wired network. This mode ensures quick and easy configuration of a wireless network where a wireless infrastructure is not needed or doesn’t exist. This can be true in hotel rooms, conventions centres or airports where wired networks are usually forbidden.
When you are connected to a wireless network, you can do a lot of basic things such as check email, connect to conferences, access your home directory, browse the Internet, use programs such as a network word processor and use printing services. However, intensive things need to be avoided such as streaming audio or video, downloading very large files or viewing sites with intense graphics.
Although a wireless connection works the same way as an Ethernet connection, they can’t be compared in terms of speed. The speed of a wireless connection is about 11 megabits per second. However, all the users connected to a wireless network have to share the bandwidth between each other and as a result the network slows down and intensive operations take a long time to complete. For this reason a wireless network can never be as fast as a wired Ethernet network.
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