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SEMINAR REPORT ON
WI FI

ELECTRONICS & COMMUNICATION DEPARTMENT

N.C. COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING,

SUBMITTED BY: Swapnil

CONTENTS
Topic

Page No. 3 5 7

Introduction of WI FI History Other wireless networking standards

Working Standard Devices WIFI Hotspots Building a wireless network Security options Questions of health risk Uses Advantages Disadvantages Bibliography

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INTRODUCTION
If you've been in an airport coffee shop, library or hotel recently, chances are you've been right in the middle of a wireless network. Many people also use wireless networking, also called Wi-Fi or 802.11 networking, to

connect their computers at home and an increasing number of cities use the technology to provide free or low-cost internet access to residents. In the near future, wireless networking may become so widespread that you can access the Internet just about anywhere at any time, without using wires.

WHAT IS WI-FI ?
Wi-Fi short for "wireless fidelity" is a term for certain types of wireless local area network (WLAN) that use specifications in the 802.11 family. The term Wi-Fi was created by an organization called the Wi-Fi Alliance. Wi-Fi (pronounced wye fye), a wireless-technology brand owned by the Wi-Fi Alliance, promotes standards with the aim of improving the interoperability of wireless local area network products based on the IEEE 802.11 standards. Common applications for Wi-Fi include Internet and VoIP phone access, gaming, and network connectivity for consumer electronics such as televisions, DVD players, and digital cameras. The Wi-Fi Alliance, a consortium of separate and independent companies, agrees on a set of common interoperable products based on the family of IEEE 802.11 standards. The Wi-Fi Alliance certifies products via a set of defined test-procedures to establish interoperability.

MORE ABOUT WI-FI

Wi-Fi, which stands for wireless fidelity, in a play on the older term Hi-Fi, is a wireless networking technology used across the globe. Wi-Fi refers to any system that uses the 802.11 standard, which was developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and released in 1997. The term Wi-Fi, which is alternatively spelled WiFi, Wi-fi, Wifi, or wifi, was pushed by the Wi-Fi Alliance, a trade group that pioneered commercialization of the technology. In a Wi-Fi network, computers with wifi network cards connect wirelessly to a wireless router. The router is connected to the Internet by means of a modem, typically a cable or DSL modem. Any user within 200 feet or so (about 61 meters) of the access point can then connect to the Internet, though for good transfer rates, distances of 100 feet (30.5 meters) or less are more common. Retailers also sell wireless signal boosters that extend the range of a wireless network. Wi-Fi networks can either be open, such that anyone can use them, or closed, in which case a password is needed. An area

blanketed in wireless access is often called a wireless hotspot. There are efforts underway to turn entire cities, such as San Francisco, Portland, and Philadelphia, into big wireless hotspots. Many of these plans will offer free, ad-supported service or adfree service for a small fee. San Francisco recently chose Google to supply it with a wireless network.

Wi-Fi technology uses radio for communication, typically operating at a frequency of 2.4GHz. Electronics that are Wi-Fi Certified are guaranteed to interoperate with each other regardless of brand. Wi-Fi is technology designed to cater to the lightweight computing systems of the future, which are mobile and designed to consume minimal power. PDAs, laptops, and various accessories are designed to be Wi-Fi compatible. There are even phones under development that would switch seamlessly from cellular networks to Wi-Fi networks without dropping a call. New Wi-Fi technologies will extend range from 300 feet (91.5 meters) to 600 feet (183 meters) and beyond, while boosting data transfer rates.

HISTORY

Wi-Fi uses both single carrier DIRECTSEQUENCE SPREAD SPECTRUM radio technology (part of the larger family of spread spectrum systems) and multi-carrier OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) radio technology. These regulations then enabled the development of Wi-Fi, its onetime competitor HOMERF and BLUETOOTH. Unlicensed spread spectrum was first made available in the US by the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION in 1985 and these FCC regulations were later copied with some changes in many other countries enabling use of this technology in all major countries.The FCC action was proposed by Michael Marcus of the FCC staff in 1980 and the subsequent regulatory action took 5 more years. It was part of a broader proposal to allow civil use of spread spectrum technology and was opposed at the time by main stream equipment manufacturers and many radio system operators. The precursor to Wi-Fi was invented in 1991 by NCR CORPORATION AT&T (later Lucent & Agere Systems) in Nieuwegein, the Netherlands. It was initially intended for cashier systems; the first wireless products were brought on the market under the name with speeds of 1 Mbit/s to 2 Mbit/s. Vic Hayes, who held the chair of IEEE 802.11 for 10 years and has been named the 'father of Wi-Fi,' was involved in designing standards such as IEEE 802.11b, and 802.11a.

CITY WIDE WI-FI St. Cloud, Florida became the first city in the United States to offer city wide free Wi-Fi, although many others have plans to offer the service. Corpus Christi, Texas had offered free Wi-Fi until May 31, 2007 when the network was purchased by Earthlink. Philadelphia is also using Earthlink for its city wide Wi-Fi. New Orleans had free city wide Wi-Fi shortly after Hurricane Katrina. City wide Wi-Fi is available in nine cities in the UK, including Leeds, Manchester and London. Other cities, such as the Minneapolis metro area, have a large number of WiFi hotspots so you can receive good signals anywhere, even if from different sources. In Europe, the City of Luxembourg has a city-wide Wi-Fi network.

OTHER WIRELESS STANDARDS

NETWORKING

Another wireless standard with a slightly different numbers are: 1. 802.15, is used for Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs). It covers a very short range and is used for BLUETOOTH technology. 2. WIMAX, also known as 802.16, looks to combine the benefits of broadband and wireless. WiMax will provide high-speed wireless Internet over very long distances and will most likely provide access to large areas such as cities. WiMax technology will be available in most American cities very soon.

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WORKING A wireless network uses radio waves, just like cell phones, televisions and radios do. In fact, communication across a wireless network is a lot like two-way radio communication. Here's what happens: 1. A computer's wireless adapter translates data into a radio signal and transmits it using an antenna. 2. A wireless router receives the signal and decodes it. It sends the information to the Internet using a physical, wired Ethernet connection. The process also works in reverse, with the router receiving information from the Internet, translating it into a radio signal and sending it to the computer's wireless adapter. The radios used for Wi-Fi communication are very similar to the radios used for walkie-talkies, cell phones and other devices. They can transmit and receive radio waves, and they can convert 1s and 0s into radio waves and convert the radio waves back into 1s and 0s. But WiFi radios have a few notable differences from other radios: They transmit at frequencies of 2.4 GHz or 5GHz. This frequency is considerably higher than the frequencies used for cell phones, walkie-talkies and televisions.

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The higher frequency allows the signal to carry more data. Wi-Fi radios can transmit on any of three frequency bands. Or, they can "frequency hop" rapidly between the different bands. Frequency hopping helps reduce interference and lets multiple devices use the same wireless connection simultaneously.

STANDARD DEVICES Wireless Access Points (WAP) connects a group of wireless devices to an adjacent wired LAN. An access point is similar to a network hub, relaying data between connected wireless devices in addition to a (usually) single connected wired device, most

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often an ethernet hub or switch, allowing wireless devices to communicate with other wired devices.
Wireless adapters allow devices to connect to a wireless network. These adapters connect to devices using various external or internal interconnects such as PCI, mini PCI, USB, Express Card, Cardbus and PC card. Most newer laptop computers are equipped with internal adapters. Internal cards are generally more difficult to install. Wireless routers integrate a WAP, ethernet switch, and internal Router firmware application that provides IP Routing, NAT, and DNS forwarding through an integrated WAN interface. A wireless router allows wired and wireless ethernet LAN devices to connect to a single WAN device such as cable modem or DSL modem. A wireless router allows all three devices to be configured through one central utility. This utility is most usually an integrated web server which serves web pages to wired and wireless LAN clients and often optionally to WAN clients. Wireless network bridges connect a wired network to a wireless network. This is different from an access point in the sense that an access point connects wireless devices to a wired network at the data-link layer. Two wireless bridges may be used to connect two wired networks over a wireless link, useful in situations where a wired connection may be unavailable, such as between two separate homes. Wireless range extenders or wireless repeaters can extend the range of an existing wireless network. Range extenders can be strategically placed to elongate a signal area or allow for the signal area to reach around barriers

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such as those created in L-shaped corridors. Wireless devices connected through repeaters will suffer from an increased latency for each hop. Additionally, a wireless device connected to any of the repeaters in the chain throughput that is limited by the weakest link between the two nodes in the chain from which the connection originates to where the connection ends.

AERIALS AND CONNECTORS Most commercial devices such as routers, access points, bridges, repeaters designed for home or business environments use either RP-SMA or RP-TNC antenna connectors. PCI wireless adapters also mainly use RPSMA connectors. Most PC card and USB wireless only have internal antennas etched on their printed circuit board while some have MMCX connector or MC-Card external connections in addition to an internal antenna. A few USB cards have a RP-SMA connector. Most Mini PCI wireless cards utilize Hirose U.FL connectors, but cards found in various wireless appliances contain all of the connectors listed. Many high-gain (homebuilt

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antennas) utilize the Type N connector more commonly used by other radio communications methods. EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

EMBEDDED SERIAL TO WIFI MODULE

Wi-Fi availability in the home is on the increase. This extension of the Internet into the home space will increasingly be used for remote monitoring. Examples of remote monitoring include security systems and tele-medicine. In all these kinds of

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implementation, if the Wi-Fi provision is provided using a system running one of operating systems mentioned above, then it becomes unfeasible due to weight, power consumption and cost issues. Increasingly in the last few years (particularly as of early 2007), embedded Wi-Fi modules have become available which come with a real-time operating system and provide a simple means of wireless enabling any device which has and communicates via a serial port. This allows simple monitoring devices for example, a portable ECG monitor hooked up to a patient in their home to be created. This Wi-Fi enabled device effectively becomes part of the internet cloud and can communicate with any other node on the internet. The data collected can hop via the home's Wi-Fi access point to anywhere on the internet. These Wi-Fi modules are designed so that designers need minimal Wi-Fi knowledge to wireless-enable their products.

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NETWORKING STANDARDS
They use 802.11 networking standards, which come in several flavours: 802.11a transmits at 5GHz and can move up to 54 megabits of data per second. It also uses orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM), a more efficient coding technique that splits that radio signal into several sub-signals before they reach a receiver. This greatly reduces interference.

802.11b is the slowest and least expensive standard. For a while, its cost made it popular, but now it's becoming less common as faster standards become less expensive. 802.11b transmits in the 2.4 GHz frequency band of the radio spectrum. It can handle up to 11 megabits of data per second, and it uses complimentary code keying (CCK) coding.

802.11g transmits at 2.4 GHz like 802.11b, but it's a lot faster. It can handle up to 54 megabits of data per second. 802.11g is faster because it uses the same OFDM coding as 802.11a.

802.11n is the newest standard that is widely available. This standard significantly improves speed and range. For instance, although 802.11g

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theoretically moves 54 megabits of data per second, it only achieves real-world speeds of about 24 megabits of data per second because of network congestion. 802.11n, however, reportedly can achieve speeds as high as 140 megabits per second.

WIFI HOTSPOTS
If you want to take advantage of public Wi-Fi hotspots or start a wireless network in your home, the first thing you'll need to do is make sure your computer has the right wireless gear. Most new laptops and many new desktop computers come with built-in wireless transmitters. If your laptop doesn't, you can buy a wireless adapter that plugs into the PC card slot or USB port. Desktop computers can use USB adapters, or you can buy an adapter that plugs into the PCI slot inside the

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computer's case. Many of these adapters can use more than one 802.11 standard.

USB WIRELESS WIRELESS CARD

ADAPTER

AND

PC

Once you've installed your wireless adapter and the drivers that allow it to operate, your computer should be

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able to automatically discover existing networks. This means that when you turn your computer on in a Wi-Fi hotspot, the computer will inform you that the network exists and ask whether you want to connect to it. If you have an older computer, you may need to use a software program to detect and connect to a wireless network. Being able to connect to the Internet in public hotspots is extremely convenient. Wireless home networks are convenient as well. They allow you to easily connect multiple computers and to move them from place to place without disconnecting and reconnecting wires.

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BUILDING A WIRELESS NETWORK

If you already have several computers networked in your home, you can create a wireless network with a wireless access point. If you have several computers that are not networked, or if you want to replace your Ethernet network, you'll need a wireless router. This is a single unit that contains: 1. A port to connect to your cable or DSL modem 2. A router 3. An Ethernet hub 4. A firewall 5. A wireless access point A wireless router allows you to use wireless signals or Ethernet cables to connect your computers to one another, to a printer and to the Internet. Most routers provide coverage for about 100 feet (30.5 meters) in all directions, although walls and doors can block the signal. If your home is very large, you can buy inexpensive range extenders or repeaters to increase your router's range.

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A wireless router uses an antenna to send signals to wireless devices and a wire to send signals to the Internet.

As with wireless adapters, many routers can use more than one 802.11 standard. 802.11b routers are slightly less expensive, but because the standard is older, they're slower than 802.11a, 802.11g and 802.11n routers. Most people select the 802.11g option for its speed and reliability. Once you plug in your router, it should start working at its default settings. Most routers let you use a Web interface to change your settings. You can select: The name of the network, known as its service set identifier (SSID) -- The default setting is usually the manufacturer's name.

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The channel that the router uses -- Most routers use channel 6 by default. If you live in an apartment and your neighbours are also using channel 6, you may experience interference. Switching to a different channel should eliminate the problem.

Your router's security options -- Many routers use a standard, publicly available signon, so it's a good idea to set your own username and password.

Security is an important part of a home wireless network, as well as public Wi-Fi hotspots. If you set your router to create an open hotspot, anyone who has a wireless card will be able to use your signal. Most people would rather keep strangers out of their network, though. Doing so requires you to take a few security precautions.

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SECURITY OPTIONS
Unless adequately protected, a Wi-Fi network can be susceptible to access by unauthorized users who use the access as a free Internet connection. The activity of locating and exploiting security-exposed wireless LANs is called WAR DRIVING. An identifying iconography, called WAR CHALKING, has evolved. Any entity that has a wireless LAN should use security safeguards such as the Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption standard, the more recent Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), Internet Protocol Security (IPsec), or a virtual private network (VPN). To keep your network private, you can use one of the following methods:

Wired Equivalency Privacy

WEP uses 64-bit or 128-bit encryption. 128-bit encryption is the more secure option. Anyone who wants to use a WEP-enabled network has to know the WEP key, which is usually a numerical password. WEP encryption can protect against casual snooping, but may also produce a misguided sense of security since freely available tools such as AirSnort or aircrack can quickly recover WEP encryption keys. Once it has seen 5-10 million encrypted packets, AirSnort will determine the encryption password in under a second; newer tools such as aircrack-ptw can use Klein's attack to crack a WEP key with a 50% success rate using only 40,000 packets.

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WiFi Protected Access

WPA is a step up from WEP and is now part of the 802.11i wireless network security protocol. It uses temporal key integrity protocol encryption. As with WEP, WPA security involves signing on with a password. Most public hotspots are either open or use WPA or 128-bit WEP technology. The newer Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and IEEE 802.11i (WPA2) encryption standards do not have any of the serious weaknesses of WEP encryption.
Media Access Control

MAC address filtering is a little different from WEP or WPA. It doesn't use a password to authenticate users -it uses a computer's physical hardware. Each computer has its own unique MAC address. MAC address filtering allows only machines with specific MAC addresses to access the network. You must specify which addresses are allowed when you set up your router. This method is very secure, but if you buy a new computer or if visitors to your home want to use your network, you'll need to add the new machines' MAC addresses to the list of approved addresses.

WI-FI AND AMATEUR RADIO

In the U.S., Canada, Australia and Europe, a portion of the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi radio spectrum is also allocated to amateur radio users. In the U.S., FCC Part 15 rules govern non-licensed operators (i.e. most Wi-Fi

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equipment users). Under Part 15 rules, non-licensed users must accept (i.e. endure) interference from licensed users and not cause harmful interference to licensed users. Amateur radio operators are licensed users, and retain what the FCC terms "primary status" on the band, under a distinct set of rules (Part 97). Under Part 97, licensed amateur operators may construct their own equipment, use very high-gain antennas, and boost output power to 100 watts on frequencies covered by WiFi channels 2-6. However, Part 97 rules mandate using only the minimum power necessary for communications, forbid obscuring the data, and require station identification every 10 minutes. Therefore, output power control is required to meet regulations, and the transmission of any encrypted data (for example https) is questionable. In practice, microwave power amplifiers are expensive. On the other hand, the short wavelength at 2.4 GHz allows for simple construction of very high gain directional antennas. Although Part 15 rules forbid any modification of commercially constructed systems, amateur radio operators may modify commercial systems for optimized construction of long links, for example. Using only 200 mW link radios and high gain directional antennas, a very narrow beam may be used to construct reliable links with minimal radio frequency interference to other users.

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QUESTION OF HEALTH RISKS

The UK's Health Protection Agency considers there is no consistent evidence of harm from the low power transmissions of Wi-Fi equipment. Consensus amongst scientists is that there is no evidence of harm, and the continuing calls for more research into the effects on human health remain limited. However, in September 2007, Germany's Environment Ministry announced that its citizens should minimise their exposure to radiation from Wi-Fi by choosing conventional wired connections, without any evidence and contrary to current internationally accepted safety criteria. Dr Michael Clark, of the Health Protection Agency, says published research on mobile phones and masts does not add up to an indictment of Wi-Fi.

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All the expert reviews done here and abroad indicate that there is unlikely to be a health risk from wireless networks. When we have conducted measurements in schools, typical exposures from WiFi are around 20 millionths of the international guideline levels of exposure to radiation. As a comparison, a child on a mobile phone receives up to 50 percent of guideline levels. So a year sitting in a classroom near a wireless network is roughly equivalent to 20 minutes on a mobile. If Wi-Fi should be taken out of schools, then the mobile phone network should be shut down, too and FM radio and TV, as the strength of their signals is similar to that from Wi-Fi in classrooms.

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USES
1. A Wi-Fi enabled device such as a PC, game console the PSP and PS3, cell phone, MP3 player or PDA can connect to the Internet when within range of a wireless network connected to the Internet. The coverage of one or more interconnected access points called a hotspot can comprise an area as small as a single room with wirelessopaque walls or as large as many square miles covered by overlapping access points. 2. In addition to restricted use in homes and offices, WiFi can make access publicly available at Wi-Fi hotspots provided either free of charge or to subscribers to various providers. Organizations and businesses such as airports, hotels and restaurants often provide free hotspots to attract or assist clients. Enthusiasts or authorities who wish to provide services or even to promote business in a given area sometimes provide free Wi-Fi access. 3. Wi-Fi also allows connectivity in peer-to-peer mode, which enables devices to connect directly with each other. This connectivity mode can prove useful in consumer electronics and gaming applications.

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ADVANTAGES
Wi-Fi allows LANs to be deployed without cabling for client devices, typically reducing the costs of network deployment and expansion. Spaces where cables cannot be run, such as outdoor areas and historical buildings, can host wireless LANs. As of 2007 wireless network adapters are built into most modern laptops. The price of chipsets for Wi-Fi continues to drop, making it an economical networking option included in even more devices. Wi-Fi has become widespread in corporate infrastructures, which also helps with the deployment of RFID technology that can piggyback on Wi-Fi. Different competitive brands of access points and client network interfaces are inter-operable at a basic level of service. Products designated as "Wi-Fi Certified" by the Wi-Fi Alliance are backwards inter-operable. Wi-Fi is a global set of standards. Unlike mobile telephones, any standard Wi-Fi device will work anywhere in the world. Wi-Fi is widely available in more than 250,000 public hotspots and tens of millions of homes and corporate and university campuses worldwide. WPA is not easily

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cracked if strong passwords are used and WPA2 encryption has no known weaknesses. New protocols for Quality of Service (WMM) make Wi-Fi more suitable for latency-sensitive applications (such as voice and video), and power saving mechanisms (WMM Power Save) improve battery operation.

DISADVANTAGES

1. Spectrum assignments and operational limitations are not consistent worldwide. Most of Europe allows for an additional 2 channels beyond those permitted in the U.S. for the 2.4 GHz band. 2. A very confusing aspect is the fact a Wi-Fi signal actually occupies five channels in the 2.4 GHz band resulting in only three non-overlapped channels in the U.S.: 1, 6, 11 and four in Europe: 1, 5, 9, 13.

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3. Equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) in the EU is limited to 20 dBm (0.1 W). 4. Power consumption is fairly high compared to some other low-bandwidth standards, such as Zigbee and Bluetooth, making battery life a concern. 5. The most common wireless encryption standard, Wired Equivalent Privacy or WEP, has been shown to be easily breakable even when correctly configured. 6. Wi-Fi Access Points typically default to an open (encryption-free) mode. Novice users benefit from a zero-configuration device. 6. To turn security on requires the user to configure the device, usually via a software graphical user interface (GUI). 7. Wi-Fi networks that are open (unencrypted) can be monitored and used to read and copy data (including personal information) transmitted over the network, unless another security method is used to secure the data, such as a VPN or a secure web page. 8. Many 2.4 GHz 802.11b and 802.11g Access points default to the same channel on initial startup, contributing to congestion on certain channels. To change the channel of operation for an access point requires the user to configure the device. 9. Wi-Fi networks have limited range. 10. A typical Wi-Fi home router using 802.11b or 802.11g with a stock antenna might have a range of 32 m (120 ft) indoors and 95 m (300 ft) outdoors. Range also varies with frequency band.

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11. Wi-Fi in the 2.4 GHz frequency block has slightly better range than Wi-Fi in the 5 GHz frequency block. Outdoor range with improved (directional) antennas can be several kilometres or more with line-of-sight. 12. Wi-Fi performance also decreases exponentially as the range increases. 13. Wi-Fi pollution, or an excessive number of access points in the area, especially on the same or neighboring channel, can prevent access and interfere with the use of other access points by others, caused by overlapping channels in the 802.11g/b spectrum, as well as with decreased signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) between access points. This can be a problem in high-density areas, such as large apartment complexes or office buildings with many Wi-Fi access points. 14. Additionally, other devices use the 2.4 GHz band: microwave ovens, security cameras, Bluetooth devices and (in some countries) Amateur radio, video senders, cordless phones and baby monitors can cause significant additional interference. 15. General guidance to those who suffer these forms of interference or network crowding is to migrate to a Wi-Fi 5 GHz product, as the 5 GHz band is relatively unused and there are many more channels available. This also requires users to set up the 5 GHz band to be the preferred network in the client and to configure each network band to a different name. 16. Interoperability issues between non Wi-Fi brands or proprietary deviations from the standard can disrupt connections or lower throughput speeds on all user's devices that are within range, to include the non-Wi-Fi or proprietary product

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

www.howstuffworks.com www.ebooks.com

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