Learning Wi-Fi P1

What is Wi-Fi ?

Wi-Fi stands for Wireless Fidelity. Wi-Fi is based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards and is primarily a local area networking (LAN) technology designed to provide in-building broadband coverage.

Current Wi-Fi systems based on IEEE 802.11a/g support a peak physical-layer data rate of 54Mbps and typically provide indoor coverage over a distance of 100 feet.

Wi-Fi has become the defacto standard for last feet broadband connectivity in homes, offices, and public hotspot locations. systems can typically provide a coverage range of only about 1,000 feet from the access point.

Wi-Fi offers remarkably higher peak data rates than do 3G systems, primarily since it operates over a larger 20MHz bandwidth, but Wi-Fi systems are not designed to support high-speed mobility.

One significant advantage of Wi-Fi over WiMAX and 3G is the wide availability of terminal devices. A vast majority of laptops shipped today have a built-in Wi-Fi interface. Wi-Fi interfaces are now also being built into a variety of devices, including personal data assistants (PDAs), cordless phones, cellular phones, cameras, and media players.

Wi-Fi is Half Duplex:

All Wi-Fi networks are contention-based TDD systems, where the access point and the mobile stations all vie for use of the same channel. Because of the shared media operation, all Wi-Fi networks are half duplex.

There are equipment vendors who market Wi-Fi mesh configurations, but those implementations incorporate technologies that are not defined in the standards.

Channel Bandwidth:

The WiFi standards define a fixed channel bandwidth of 25 MHz for 802.11b and 20 MHz for either 802.11a or g networks.