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A wireless LAN (WLAN) is a wireless computer network that links two or more devices using wireless communication to form a local area network (LAN) within a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, campus, or office building. This gives users the ability to move around within the area and remain connected to the network.
A wireless network is a computer network that uses wireless data connections between network nodes. [1] Wireless networking allows homes, telecommunications networks , and business installations to avoid the costly process of introducing cables into a building, or as a connection between various equipment locations. [ 2 ]
Wi-Fi (/ ˈ w aɪ f aɪ /) [1] [a] is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio waves.
The star topology is the most common in contemporary times. Wireless LAN (WLAN) also has its topologies: independent basic service set (IBSS, an ad-hoc network) where each node connects directly to each other (this is also standardized as Wi-Fi Direct), or basic service set (BSS, an infrastructure network that uses an wireless access point). [6]
The wireless LAN controller is part of the Data Plane within the Cisco Wireless Model. The WLAN controller automatically handles the configuration of wireless access-points . It centralizes wireless network infrastructure and handles bandwidth allocation to the access points (APs).
Normally it is broadcast in the clear by stations in beacon packets to announce the presence of a network and seen by users as a wireless network name. Unlike basic service set identifiers, SSIDs are usually customizable. [10] These SSIDs can be zero to 32 octets long, [11] and are, for convenience, usually in a natural language, such as English.
A typical Wi-Fi home network includes laptops, tablets and phones, devices like modern printers, music devices, and televisions. Most Wi-Fi networks are set up in infrastructure mode, where the access point acts as a central hub to which Wi-Fi capable devices are connected. All communication between devices goes through the access point.
Wireless mesh infrastructure is, in effect, a network of routers minus the cabling between nodes. It is built of peer radio devices that do not have to be cabled to a wired port like traditional WLAN access points (AP) do. Mesh infrastructure carries data over large distances by splitting the distance into a series of short hops.