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Wi-Fi

Encyclopedia : W : WI : WIF : Wi-Fi

 

 Internet protocol suite
Layer Protocols
Application DNS, TLS/SSL, TFTP, FTP, HTTP, IMAP, IRC, NNTP, POP3, SIP, SMTP, SNMP, SSH, TELNET, BitTorrent, RTP, rlogin, …
Transport TCP, UDP, DCCP, SCTP, IL, RUDP,
Network IP (IPv4, IPv6), ICMP, IGMP, ARP, RARP, …
Link Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Token ring, Point-to-Point Protocol>PPP, SLIP, FDDI, ATM, DTM, Frame Relay, SMDS, …
Wi-Fi (also WiFi, Wi-fi, Wifi, or wifi) is a brand originally licensed by the Wi-Fi Alliance to describe the underlying technology of wireless local area networks (WLAN) based on the IEEE 802.11 specifications.

Wi-Fi was intended to be used for mobile computing devices, such as laptops, in LANs, but is now often used for increasingly more applications, including Internet and VoIP phone access, gaming, and basic connectivity of consumer electronics such as televisions and DVD players. There are even more standards in development that will allow Wi-Fi to be used by cars in highways in support of an Intelligent Transportation System to increase safety, gather statistics, and enable mobile commerce IEEE 802.11p.

A person with a Wi-Fi device, such as a computer, telephone, or personal digital assistant (PDA) can connect to the Internet when in proximity of an access point. The region covered by one or several access points is called a hotspot. Hotspots can range from a single room to many square miles of overlapping hotspots. Wi-Fi can also be used to create a Wireless mesh network. Both architectures are used in Wireless community network, municipal wireless networks like Wireless Philadelphia [[http://www.phila.gov/wireless/]], and metro-scale networks like M-Taipei [[http://english.taipei.gov.tw/TCG/index.jsp?recordid=6996]].

Wi-Fi also allows connectivity in peer-to-peer mode, which enables devices to connect directly with each other. This connectivity mode is useful in consumer electronics and gaming applications.

When the technology was first commercialized there were many problems because consumers could not be sure that products from different vendors would work together. The Wi-Fi Alliance began as a community to solve this issue so as to address the needs of the end user and allow the technology to mature. The Alliance created another brand "Wi-Fi CERTIFIED" to denote products are interoperable with other products displaying the "Wi-Fi CERTIFIED" brand.

Contents

History

Official Wi-Fi logo
Official Wi-Fi logo

Wi-Fi uses both single carrier direct-sequence spread spectrum radio technology, part of the larger family of spread spectrum systems and multi-carrier OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) radio technology. Unlicensed spread spectrum was first authorized by the Federal Communications Commission in 1985 and these FCC regulations were later copied with some changes in many other countries enabling use of this technology in all major countries. These regulations then enabled the development of Wi-Fi, its onetime competitor HomeRF, and Bluetooth.

The precursor to Wi-Fi was invented in 1991 by NCR Corporation/AT&T (later Lucent & Agere Systems) in Nieuwegein, the Netherlands. It was initially intended for cashier systems; the first wireless products were brought on the market under the name WaveLAN with speeds of 1 Mbit/s to 2 Mbit/s. Vic Hayes, who was the primary inventor of Wi-Fi and has been named the 'father of Wi-Fi,' was involved in designing standards such as IEEE 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g. In 2003, Vic retired from Agere Systems. Agere Systems suffered from strong competition in the market even though their products were high quality, as many opted for cheaper Wi-Fi solutions. Agere's 802.11a/b/g all-in-one chipset (code named: WARP) never made it to market, and Agere Systems decided to quit the Wi-Fi market in late 2004.

Origin and meaning of the term \"Wi-Fi\"

Despite the similarity between the terms "Wi-Fi" and "Hi-Fi", statements reportedly [link] made by Theerapon P. of the Tong charoen Gold contradict the popular conclusion that "Wi-Fi" stands for "Wireless Fidelity".

According to Mr. Belanger, the Interbrand Corporation developed the brand "Wi-Fi" for the Wi-Fi Alliance to use to describe WLAN products that are based on the IEEE 802.11 standards. In Mr. Belanger's words, "Wi-Fi and the yin yang style logo were invented by Interbrand. We (the founding members of the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance, now called the Wi-Fi Alliance) hired Interbrand to come up with the name and logo that we could use for our interoperability seal and marketing efforts. We needed something that was a little catchier than 'IEEE 802.11b Direct Sequence'."

The Wi-Fi Alliance themselves invoked the term "Wireless Fidelity" with the marketing of a tag line, "The Standard for Wireless Fidelity," but later removed the tag from their marketing. The Wi-Fi Alliance now discourages propagation of the notion that "Wi-Fi" stands for "Wireless Fidelity".

Wi-Fi: How it works

The typical Wi-Fi setup contains one or more Access Points (APs) and one or more clients. An AP broadcasts its SSID (Service Set Identifier, "Network name") via packets that are called beacons, which are broadcast every 100 ms. The beacons are transmitted at 1 Mbit/s, and are of relatively short duration and therefore do not have a significant influence on performance. Since 1 Mbit/s is the lowest rate of Wi-Fi it assures that the client who receives the beacon can communicate at least 1 Mbit/s. Based on the settings (e.g. the SSID), the client may decide whether to connect to an AP. Also the firmware running on the client Wi-Fi card is of influence. Say two APs of the same SSID are in range of the client, the firmware may decide based on signal strength to which of the two APs it will connect. The Wi-Fi standard leaves connection criteria and roaming totally open to the client. This is a strength of Wi-Fi, but also means that one wireless adapter may perform substantially better than the other. Since Wi-Fi transmits in the air, it has the same properties as a non-switched ethernet network. Even collisions can therefore appear like in non-switched ethernet LAN's.

Channels

Except for 802.11a, which operates at 5 GHz, Wi-Fi uses the spectrum near 2.4 GHz, which is standardized and unlicensed by international agreement, although the exact frequency allocations vary slightly in different parts of the world, as does maximum permitted power. However, channel numbers are standardized by frequency throughout the world, so authorized frequencies can be identified by channel numbers.

Examples of Wi-Fi Devices

Wireless Access Point (WAP)

A wireless access point (AP) connects a group of wireless stations to an adjacent wired local area network (LAN). An access point is similar to an ethernet hub, but instead of relaying LAN data only to other LAN stations, an access point can relay wireless data to all other compatible wireless devices as well as LAN stations connected by wire.

Wireless Routers

A wireless router connects a group of Wi-Fi-enabled devices (i.e. PDAs, laptops, etc.) to an adjacent wired network (such as a cable modem or DSL modem). A wireless router is a wireless access point combined with an ethernet hub. A wireless router forwards IP packets between your wireless subnet and any other subnet.

Wireless Ethernet Bridge

A wireless ethernet bridge connects two separate networks.

Range Extender

A wireless range extender can increase the range of an existing wireless network by being strategically placed in locations where the wireless router or access point signal is degraded or out of range.

Wi-Fi vs. cellular

Some argue that Wi-Fi and related consumer technologies hold the key to replacing cellular telephone networks such as GSM. Some obstacles to this happening in the near future are missing roaming and authentication features (see 802.1x, SIM cards and RADIUS), the narrowness of the available spectrum and the limited range of Wi-Fi. It is more likely that WiMax will compete with other cellular phone protocols such as GSM, UMTS or CDMA. However, Wi-Fi is ideal for VoIP applications e.g. in a corporate LAN or SOHO environment. Early adopters were already available in the late '90s, though not until 2005 did the market explode. Companies such as Zyxel, UT Starcomm, Samsung, Hitachi and many more are offering VoIP Wi-Fi phones for reasonable prices.

In 2005 ADSL ISP started to offer VoIP services to their customers (eg. the Dutch ISP XS4All). Since calling via VoIP is free or low-cost, VoIP enabled ISPs have the potential to open up the VoIP market. GSM phones with integrated Wi-Fi & VoIP capabilities are being introduced into the market and have the potential to replace land line telephone services.

Currently it seems unlikely that Wi-Fi will directly compete against cellular in areas that have only sparse Wi-Fi coverage. Wi-Fi-only phones have a very limited range, so setting up a covering network would be too expensive. Additionally, cellular technology allows the user to travel while connected, bouncing the connection from tower to tower (or "cells") as proximity changes, all the while maintaining one solid connection to the user. Many current Wi-Fi devices and drivers do not support roaming yet and connect to only one access point at a time. In this case, once you are out of range of one "hotspot", the connection will drop and will need to be re-connected to the next one each time.

For these reasons, Wi-Fi phones are still best suited for local use such as corporate or home networks. However, devices capable of multiple standards, called converged devices, (using SIP or UMA) may well compete in the market. Top-tier handset manufacturers have announced converged dual-radio handsets. Converged handsets present several compelling advantages to mobile carriers:

Commercial Wi-Fi

Commercial Wi-Fi services are available in places such as Internet cafes, coffee houses and airports around the world (commonly called Wi-Fi-cafés), although coverage is patchy in comparison with cellular:

Universal efforts

Another business model seems to be making its way into the news. The idea is that users will share their bandwidth through their personal wireless routers, which are supplied with specific software. An example is [FON], a Spanish start-up created in November 2005. It aims to become the largest network of hotspots in the world by the end of 2006 with 30 000 access points. The users are divided into three categories: linus share Internet access for free; bills sell their personal bandwidth; and aliens buy access from bills. Thus the system can be described as a peer-to-peer sharing service, which we usually relate to software.

Although FON has received some financial support by companies like Google and Skype, it remains to be seen whether the idea can actually work. There are three main challenges for this service at the moment. The first is that it needs much media and community attention first in order to get through the phase of "early adoption" and into the mainstream. Then comes the fact that sharing your Internet connection is often against the terms of use of your ISP. This means that in the next few months we can see ISPs trying to defend their interests in the same way music companies united against free MP3 distribution. And third, the FON software is still in Beta-version and it remains to be seen if it presents a good solution of the imminent security issues.

Free Wi-Fi

While commercial services attempt to move existing business models to Wi-Fi, many groups, communities, cities, and individuals have set up free Wi-Fi networks, often adopting a [common peering agreement] in order that networks can openly share with each other. Free wireless mesh networks are often considered the future of the Internet.

Many municipalities have joined with local community groups to help expand free Wi-Fi networks (see Mu-Fi). Some community groups have built their Wi-Fi networks entirely based on volunteer efforts and donations.

For more information, see wireless community network, where there is also a list of the free Wi-Fi networks one can find around the globe.

OLSR is one of the protocols used to set up free networks. Some networks use static routing; others rely completely on OSPF. Wireless Leiden developed their own routing software under the name LVrouteD for community wi-fi networks that consist of a completely wireless backbone. Most networks rely heavily on open source software, or even publish their setup under an open source license.

Some smaller countries and municipalities already provide free Wi-Fi hotspots and residential Wi-Fi internet access to everyone. Examples include Estonia which have already a large number of free Wi-Fi hotspots throughout their countries.

In Paris, France, [OzoneParis] offers free Internet access for life to anybody who contributes to the Pervasive Network’s development by making their rooftop available for the Wi-Fi Network.

Annapolis, Maryland is in the early phases (as of April 2006) of a pilot program to provide free, advertisement-financed Wi-Fi to all its residents. A private company, Annapolis Wireless Internet, will administrate the network. Users will only see local advertisements upon accessing the network. [link]

Unwire Jerusalem is a project to put free Wi-Fi access points at the main shopping centers of Jerusalem.

Many universities provide free Wi-Fi internet access to their students, visitors, and anyone on campus. Similarly, some commercial entities such as Panera Bread and Culver's offer free Wi-Fi access to patrons. McDonald's Corporation also offers Wi-Fi access, often branded 'McInternet'. This was launched at their flagship restaurant in Oak Brook, Illinois and is also available in many branches in London, UK.

However, there is also a third subcategory of networks set up by certain communities such as universities where the service is provided free to members and guests of the community such as students, yet used to make money by letting the service out to companies and individuals outside. An example of such a service is [Sparknet] in Finland. Sparknet also supports [OpenSpark], a project where people can share their own wireless access point and become as a part of Sparknet and OpenSpark community in return for certain benefits.

Recently commercial Wi-Fi providers have built free Wi-Fi hotspots and hotzones. These providers hope that free Wi-Fi access would equate to more users and significant return on investment.

Wi-Fi vs. amateur radio

In the US, (and Australia) the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi radio spectrum is also allocated to amateur radio users. FCC Part 15 rules govern non-licenced operators (i.e. most Wi-Fi equipment users). Amateur operators retain what the FCC terms "primary status" on the band under a distinct set of rules (Part 97). Under Part 97, licensed amateur operators may construct their own equipment, use very high-gain antennas, and boost output power to 100 watts on frequencies covered by Wi-Fi channels 2-6. However, Part 97 rules mandate using only the minimum power necessary for communications, forbid obscuring the data, and require station identification every 10 minutes. Therefore, expensive automatic power-limiting circuitry is required to meet regulations, and the transmission of any encrypted data (for example https) is questionable.

In practice, microwave power amplifiers are expensive and decrease receive-sensitivity of link radios. On the other hand, the short wavelength at 2.4 GHz allows for simple construction of very high gain directional antennas. Although Part 15 rules forbid any modification of commercially constructed systems, amateur radio operators may modify commercial systems for optimized construction of long links, for example. Using only 200 mW link radios and high gain directional antennas, a very narrow beam may be used to construct reliable links with minimal radio frequency interference to other users.

Wi-Fi and its support by operating systems

Advantages of Wi-Fi

Disadvantages of Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi in gaming

Some gaming consoles and handhelds make use of Wi-Fi technology to enhance the gaming experience:

Wi-Fi and free software

For more details on this topic, see Comparison of Open Source Wireless Drivers.

Trademark/certification

Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi CERTIFIED are trademarks of the Wi-Fi Alliance the trade organization that tests and certifies equipment compliance with the 802.11x standards.

Unintended and intended use by outsiders

The default configuration of most Wi-Fi access points provides no technological protection from unauthorized use of the network. Many business and residential users do not intend to close(secure) their access points but to leave them open for other users in the area. Some argue that it is proper etiquette to leave access points open for others to use just as one can expect to find open access points while on the road.

Measures to deter unauthorized users include suppressing the AP's service set identifier (SSID) broadcast, allowing only computers with known MAC addresses to join the network, and various encryption standards. Older access points (pre-2003) support only weak security measures which won't protect against a determined attacker armed with a packet sniffer and the ability to switch MAC addresses. Recreational exploration of other people's access points has become known as wardriving, and the leaving of graffiti describing available services as warchalking. These activities may be illegal in certain jurisdictions, but existing legislation and case-law is often unclear.

However, it is also common for people to unintentionally use others' Wi-Fi networks without explicit authorization. Operating systems such as Windows XP and Mac OS X automatically connect to an available wireless network, depending on the network configuration. A user who happens to start up a laptop in the vicinity of an access point may find the computer has joined the network without any visible indication. Moreover, a user intending to join one network may instead end up on another one if the latter's signal is stronger. In combination with automatic discovery of other network resources (see DHCP and Zeroconf) this could possibly lead wireless users to send sensitive data to the wrong destination, as described by Chris Meadows in the February 2004 RISKS Digest. [link]

See also

External links

[[wikibooks:|Wikibooks ]] has more about this subject:
[[wikibooks::Wifi|Wifi]]

 

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All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

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