Wireless Network

What is a Wireless Network?

Let us assume an example where we want to establish wireless network between two computers at your home, for establishing a wireless network you should have the basic requirements like routers, modem and adapters. Let us say that computer A wants to communicate to Computer B, Initially you need to set up a wireless router and the computers should be equipped with wireless adapters. When you start transmission of data from computer A to computer B, the binary data will be encoded to radio frequency and transmitted through wireless router.

The computer B which is receiving the signal decodes the signal from radio frequency to binary data. Well, this can be easily explained by considering the operation of mobile phone. The mobile which is transmitting your voice signal will have a microphone which converts your voice signal into binary data and sends it to the receiver where as the receiver converts the binary data to analog signal which can be easily understandable by humans. So by this time you have got it what is a Wireless network? Now this is the time to learn types of wirless networks.

Three types of wireless networks exist.

1.            Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN)
2.            Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)
3.            Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN)

Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN):

Wireless Personal Area Network connects devices with in a room or with in an area of 20mts or with in a small area. We can consider Bluetooth as an example for WPAN.

Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN):

Wireless Local Area Network connects the computers wirelessly in a network similar to a LAN where we use wires to connect but in a wireless network we don’t need wires to connect or to transmit data. Here we require a radio to transmit data from source to destination. These are also called as WiFi networks.

Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN):

Wireless Metropolitan Area Network is a kind of Wireless that connects many Local Area Networks (LAN’s) wirelessly
As the technology is updating day by day, wireless networks are attracting large enterprise solutions and business networks by enabling them to adapt wireless technology by making them easy access and easy set up. On the other hand we should check out the drawbacks with wireless networks. Wireless networks are vulnerable as anybody can get onto your network by breaking the signal. Wireless networks are slower when compared to cable connections. Wireless networks are not compatible and flexible. Fixing is not an easy task.