One of the first considerations facing the enterprise that wants to deploy wireless networking is - which wireless technologies to adopt and when? This paper examines the three prevalent standards, 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11a, with an eye toward the forthcoming 802.11n standard, which promises much higher throughput than is currently available. We also look at two wireless LAN (WLAN) architectures - standalone access points and centrally controlled coordinated access points - and discuss implementation considerations that can help you decide which architectures to adopt in your environment.
To help decide which standards-based products to implement, you'll want to perform a site survey that identifies the most appropriate wireless technologies and architectures for your environment. Before delving into the more technical details, let's examine what's involved in planning and conducting a site survey.
IEEE Standards
IEEE 802.11 - otherwise known as the Wi-Fi standard - denotes a set of standards for wireless LANs.
The original IEEE 802.11 standard, released in 1997, defines a common media access control (MAC) layer that supports the operation of all 802.11-based WLANs by performing core functions such as managing communications between radio network cards and access points.
IEEE 802.11 - otherwise known as the Wi-Fi standard - denotes a set of standards for wireless LANs.
The original IEEE 802.11 standard, released in 1997, defines a common media access control (MAC) layer that supports the operation of all 802.11-based WLANs by performing core functions such as managing communications between radio network cards and access points.
IEEE 802.11 - otherwise known as the Wi-Fi standard - denotes a set of standards for wireless LANs.
The original IEEE 802.11 standard, released in 1997, defines a common media access control (MAC) layer that supports the operation of all 802.11-based WLANs by performing core functions such as managing communications between radio network cards and access points.
Subsequent amendments to 802.11 define specific physical (PHY) layers, such as 802.11b, 802.11g, or 802.11a. The physical layer defines the data transmission for the WLAN, using various modulation schemes.
The ProCurve Solution
Through its active and extensive participation in standards bodies, ProCurve has demonstrated its leadership in the development of industry standards, spearheading much of the work that goes into their formation and adoption.
According to IDC, "a strong vendor-neutral interoperability and technology advocacy organization ... will continue to ensure a consistent user experience between products from multiple vendors."? Because ProCurve solutions are standards-based, they are interoperable with many authentication systems, clients, and switches. Companies can leverage existing site infrastructure investments without sacrificing security or functionality. The ability to reap the
products and technologies
ProCurve understands the importance of centralized management of the network and provides a comprehensive set of network management tools to support both centralized and standalone AP network architectures.
For distributed sites such as remote or branch offices, ProCurve offers the Access Point 530, a secure, dual-radio highly intelligent standalone access point that provides a comprehensive range of industry-proven security capabilities that integrate easily into any network design. In addition to supporting dual radio (802.11b/g + 802.11a) operation to service dual-band wireless clients, the Access Point 530 can be configured as a dual 2.4GHz (802.11b/g + 802.11b/g) access point to provide high capacity data and voice coverage in networks where support for 802.11a is not a requirement.
To accommodate a wide range of mainstream deployments, the access point includes both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz integrated diversity omnidirectional antennas for easy deployment as well as external antenna connectors compatible with ProCurve's line of external antennas to extend wireless coverage or wireless bridging to remote access points. ProCurve offers a variety of antennas that customers can choose to address needs that were identified during the site survey.
The ProCurve Access Point 530 provides a built-in RADIUS authentication server that enables enterprise 802.11i wireless security. This provides enhanced security (such as dynamic encryption keys and periodic key rotation) for deployments that cannot utilize a remote RADIUS server.
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