IEEE 802.11 (WiFi)
Wireless host communicates with base station. A base station = access point (AP). In ad-hoc mode, hosts only. Different versions:
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- 802.11a
- 5-6 GHz range, up to 54 Mbps
- 802.11g
- 2.4-5 GHz range, up to 54 Mbps
- 802.11n: multiple antennae
- 2.4-5 GHz range, up to 200 Mbps
All use CSMA/CA for multiple access, and all have base-station and ad-hoc network versions (without base-station). Spectrum divided into 11 channels at different frequencies
- Access point (AP) admin chooses frequency for AP
- Interference possible: channel can be same as that chosen by neighboring AP!
Host: must associate with an AP
- Scans channels, listening for beacon frames containing AP’s name (SSID) and MAC address
- Selects AP to associate with
- May perform authentication
- Will typically run DHCP to get IP address in AP’s subnet
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Project
Contact
This resource was developed as part of an Erasmus+ project, funded with support from the European Commission under grant agreement 2016-1-SE01-KA203-22064.
The project was a collaboration between:
- The University of Borås, Sweden
- The University of the Highlands and Islands, Scotland
- The University of Alcalá, Spain
- Digital Connections, Scotland
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