wifi technology

HOW DOES WIFI WORK ?

Really, you do not need to worry or even read about this. But for those curious cats out there, this section attempts to illustrate a very high level understanding and history of this technology. Once we have fixed the your webcam, and it is up and running, you will not need to think about it at all. Just a few click icons on your computer’s screen, and you are fired away and connected!

The radio link, the data structure, and the network architecture are the 3 essential elements that form the internal plumbing of an 802.11b wireless Ethernet network. Each of these elements is independent of the other 2, so it is necessary to define all 3 when a new network is invented. In term of the familiar OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) reference model, the radio signal operates at the Physical Layer, and the data format controls several of the higher layers. The network structure includes the interface adapters and base stations that send and receive the radio signals.

In a wireless network, the network adapters in each computer convert digital data to radio signals, which they transmit to other devices on the network, and they convert incoming radio signals from other network elements back to digital data. The IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) has produced a set of standards and specifications for wireless networks under the title “IEEE 802.11” that defines the format and structure of those signals.

The original 802.11 standard was released in 1997. It covers a several different types of wireless media: 2 kinds of radio transmissions and networks that use infrared light. The more recent 802.11b standard provides additional specifications for wireless networks that operate at higher speeds on different radio frequencies. Still, other 802.11 radio networking standard with other letters are also moving toward public release.

The specification in widest use today is 802.11b. That is the de facto standard used by just every wireless Ethernet LAN that you are likely to encounter in offices and public spaces and in most home networks.

WECA (Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance) is an industry group that includes all of the major manufacturers of 802.11b equipment. Their twin missions are to test and certify that wireless devices from all their member companies can operate together in the same network and to promote 802.11 networks as the worldwide standard for wireless LANs. WECA’s marketing geniuses adopted the more “friendly” name of WiFi (Wireless Fidelity) for the 802.11 specifications and changed their own name to Wi-Fi alliance.

It will get too technical if we continue from here. There are tremendous information on the web about the kind of radio signals, the ways data are moved around and the network devices, if you are genuinely interested. These information can also be obtained from networking books easily.