ZyXEL Communications Parental Control Gateway HS100/HS100W - Manual (Page 339)

HomeSafe User’s Guide
Wireless LAN and IEEE 802.11 F-1
Appendix F
Wireless LAN and IEEE 802.11
A wireless LAN (WLAN) provides a flexible data communications system that you can use to
access various services (navigating the Internet, email, printer services, etc.) without the use of a
cabled connection. In effect a wireless LAN environment provides you the freedom to stay
connected to the network while roaming around in the coverage area. WLAN is not available on
all models.
Benefits of a Wireless LAN
Wireless LAN offers the following benefits:
1. It provides you with access to network services in areas otherwise hard or expensive to wire,
such as historical buildings, buildings with asbestos materials and classrooms.
2. It provides healthcare workers like doctors and nurses access to a complete patient’s profile
on a handheld or notebook computer upon entering a patient’s room.
3. It allows flexible workgroups a lower total cost of ownership for workspaces that are
frequently reconfigured.
4. It allows conference room users access to the network as they move from meeting to meeting,
getting up-to-date access to information and the ability to communicate decisions while “on
the go”.
5. It provides campus-wide networking mobility, allowing enterprises the roaming capability to
set up easy-to-use wireless networks that cover the entire campus transparently.
IEEE 802.11
The 1997 completion of the IEEE 802.11 standard for wireless LANs (WLANs) was a first
important step in the evolutionary development of wireless networking technologies. The
standard was developed to maximize interoperability between differing brands of wireless LANs
as well as to introduce a variety of performance improvements and benefits.
The IEEE 802.11 specifies three different transmission methods for the PHY, the layer
responsible for transferring data between nodes. Two of the methods use spread spectrum RF
signals, Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) and Frequency-Hopping Spread Spectrum
(FHSS), in the 2.4 to 2.4825 GHz unlicensed ISM (Industrial, Scientific and Medical) band. The
third method is infrared technology, using very high frequencies, just below visible light in the
electromagnetic spectrum to carry data.
Ad-hoc Wireless LAN Configuration
The simplest WLAN configuration is an independent (Ad-hoc) WLAN that connects a set of
computers with wireless nodes or stations (STA), which is called a Basic Service Set (BSS). In
the most basic form, a wireless LAN connects a set of computers with wireless adapters. Any