802.11 Wireless Networks: The Definitive Guide

Matthew Gast

"O'Reilly Media, Inc.", 2002 - Computers - 443 pages

As a network administrator, architect, or security professional, you need to understand the capabilities, limitations, and risks associated with integrating wireless LAN technology into your current infrastructure.802.11 Wireless Networks: The Definitive Guideprovides all the information necessary to analyze and deploy wireless networks with confidence.

Over the past five years, the world has become increasingly mobile. Traditional ways of networking have altered to accommodate new lifestyles and ways of working. Wireless networks offer several advantages over fixed (or wired) networks, with mobility, flexibility, ease and speed of deployment, and low-cost at the top of the list. Large productivity gains are possible when developers, students, and professionals are able to access data on the move. Ad-hoc meetings in the lunch room, library, or across the street in the café allow you to develop ideas collaboratively and act on them right away. Wireless networks are typically very flexible, which can translate into rapid deployment. Once the infrastructure is in place, adding new users is just a matter of authorization.

After a general introduction to wireless networks, this practical book moves quickly into the gory details of the 802.11 standard. If you ever need to debug a wireless network that isn't working properly, you'd better understand this material. 802.11 MAC (Media Access Control), detailed 802.11 framing, WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy protocol), 802.1x, management operations, and the PCF (point coordination function) are all covered in detail. Author Matthew Gast also supplies impressive detail on the physical layers.

As for getting a wireless network up and running... Gast offers clear, no-nonsense guide for using 802.11 on Windows and Linux, using and selecting access points, making deployment considerations, and seeing to 802.11 network monitoring and performance tuning. In the final section of the book, he summarizes the standardization work pending in the 802.11 working group.

If you're looking for one book that provides a full spectrum view of 802.11, from the minute details of the specification, to deployment, monitoring, and troubleshooting,802.11 Wireless Networks: The Definitive Guideis worth its weight in gold.

Contents

• Introduction to Wireless Networks: 1
• A Network by Any Other Name: 5
• Overview of 80211 Networks: 7
• IEEE 802 Network Technology Family Tree: 8
• 80211 Nomenclature and Design: 9
• 80211 Network Operations: 16
• Mobility Support: 20
• The 80211 MAC: 23
• Challenges for the MAC: 25
• MAC Access Modes and Timing: 27
• ContentionBased Access Using the DCF: 31
• Fragmentation and Reassembly: 34
• Frame Format: 35
• Encapsulation of HigherLayer Protocols Within 80211: 43
• ContentionBased Data Service: 44
• 80211 Framing in Detail: 51
• Control Frames: 60
• Management Frames: 66
• Frame Transmission and Association and Authentication States: 83
• Wired Equivalent Privacy WEP: 86
• WEP Cryptographic Operations: 89
• Problems with WEP: 93
• Conclusions and Recommendations: 96
• Security Take 28021x: 99
• The Extensible Authentication Protocol: 100
• Network Port Authentication: 105
• 8021x on Wireless LANs: 110
• Management Operations: 114
• Scanning: 115
• Authentication: 120
• Association: 124
• Power Conservation: 128
• Timer Synchronization: 137
• ContentionFree Service with the PCF: 140
• Detailed PCF Framing: 144
• Power Management and the PCF: 149
• Physical Layer Overview: 151
• The Radio Link: 152
• RF and 80211: 158
• The ISM PHYs FH DS and HRDS: 164
• 80211DS PHY: 176
• HRDSSS PHY: 189
• 80211a 5GHz OFDM PHY: 198
• Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing OFDM: 199
• OFDM as Applied by 80211a: 205
• OFDM PLCP: 208
• OFDM PMD: 211
• Characteristics of the OFDM PHY: 212
• Using 80211 on Windows: 214
• Nokia C110C111: 215
• Lucent ORINOCO: 229
• Using 80211 on Linux: 236
• A Few Words on 80211 Hardware: 237
• PCMCIA Support on Linux: 238
• linuxwlanng for IntersilBased Cards: 244
• Agere Lucent Orinoco: 254
• Using 80211 Access Points: 262
• ORiNOCO Lucent AP1000 Access Point: 269
• Nokia A032 Access Point: 279
• 80211 Network Deployment: 293
• The Topology Archetype: 294
• Project Planning: 307
• The Site Survey: 314
• Installation and the Final Rollout: 325
• 80211 Network Analysis: 329
• 80211 Network Analyzers: 331
• Commercial Network Analyzers: 332
• 80211 Network Analysis Examples: 348
• AirSnort: 363
• 80211 Performance Tuning: 368
• Tuning Power Management: 371
• Timing Operations: 373
• Summary of Tunable Parameters: 374
• The Future at Least for 80211: 376
• The Longer Term: 378
• The End: 382
• 80211 MIB: 383
• 80211 on the Macintosh: 396
• Glossary: 411
• Index: 419

About the author

Matthew Gast currently works for an advanced wireless network systems company in the Bay Area. Prior to that, he spent several years as an engineer for a series of network security companies. He is the author of 802.11 Wireless Networks: The Definitive Guide, Network Printing, and T1: A Survival Guide.

Bibliographic information

• Title: 802.11 Wireless Networks: The Definitive Guide; A Nutshell handbook; Definitive Guide Series; Safari tech books online
• Author: Matthew Gast
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: "O'Reilly Media, Inc.", 2002
• ISBN: 0596001835, 9780596001834
• Length: 443 pages
• Subjects: Computers / Computer Science; Computers / General; Computers / Networking / General; Computers / Networking / Local Area Networks (LANs); Technology & Engineering / Mobile & Wireless Communications; Technology & Engineering / Telecommunications