Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi)

Submitted by,

Premsingh Thangasamy.S 9911112007 I year M.Tech Network Engineering

Agenda
Introduction How Wi-Fi Works? Wi-Fi Technology How to connect Wi-Fi Network? Wi-Fi Access Protocol Wi-Fi Applications Issues in Wi-Fi networks Wi-Fi Security Advantages Limitations

Introduction
Wireless Technology is an alternative to Wired Technology, which is commonly used, for connecting devices in wireless mode. A Wi-Fi is an electronic devices, such as a personal computer, video game console, Smartphone, or digital audio player can connect to the internet via a wireless network access point. An access point (or hotspot) has a range of about 20 meters (65 feet) indoors as few rooms and a greater range outdoors, as many square miles. Wi-Fi access can provide at Organizations and businesses such as homes, offices, airports, hotels and restaurants often provide free-use hotspots to attract or assist clients.

How Wi-Fi works?

There are three most important items which makes Wi-Fi working in your laptop or desktop. These are, Radio Signals Wi-Fi Card which fits in your laptop or computer. Hotspots which create Wi-Fi Network.

Wi-Fi Technology
Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) is a generic term that refers to the IEEE 802.11 communications standard for Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs provides 1- or 2-Mbps transmission in the 2.4-GHz band using either frequency-hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) or direct-sequence spread spectrum (DSSS). The 802.11 standard is defined through several specifications of WLANs such as, IEEE 802.11b IEEE 802.11a IEEE 802.11g

802.11 standards
Parameter Standard approved Available bandwidth No. of overlapping channel Frequency Typical Data Rate Maximum Data Rate Range Compatibility Advantages 802.11a Sept 1999 300MHz 4 5GHz 23 Mbit/s 54 Mbit/s 115 feet None 802.11b Sept 1999 83.5MHz 3 2.4GHz 4.5 Mbit/s 11 Mbit/s 115 feet None 802.11g June 2003 83.5MHz 3 2.4GHz 19 Mbit/s 54 Mbit/s 125 feet Backward compatible with b

fast maximum speed regulated frequencies prevent signal interference from other devices highest cost shorter range signal that is more easily obstructed

lowest cost signal range is good and not easily obstructed.

fast maximum speed signal range is good and not easily obstructed

Dis-advantages

slowest maximum speed home appliances may interfere on the unregulated frequency band

costs more than 802.11b appliances may interfere on the unregulated signal frequency

How to connect Wi-Fi Network?

Basic concept is same as Walkie talkies. A Wi-Fi hotspot is created by installing an access point to an internet connection. An access point acts as a base station. When Wi-Fi enabled device encounters a hotspot the device can then connect to that network wirelessly. A single access point can support up to 30 users and can function within a range of 100 150 feet indoors and up to 300 feet outdoors. Many access points can be connected to each other via Ethernet cables to create a single large network.

Wi-Fi Access Protocol

MAC Protocols: The 802.11 standards use a MAC layer known as CSMA/CA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Avoidance). In CSMA/CA a Wireless node that wants to transmit & performs the following sequence: Listen on the desired channel. If channel is idle (no active transmitters) it sends a packet. If channel is busy then, the node waits until the transmission end then a contention period where minimum time a host must transmit before it can be sure that the no other hosts packet has collided with its transmission. If the channel is still idle at the end of the contention period, then the node transmits its packet otherwise it repeats the process defined in step-3 above until it gets a free channel.

Wi-Fi Applications
As Wi-Fi enabled devices have become more and more popular, wired devices are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Check out some of the new ways that Wi-Fi is being used below.

Home or office. Large Corporations & Campuses Small Businesses or SOHO.

Whole house connectivity

Public place connectivity

Issues in Wi-Fi networks

Wireless technology doesnt remove any old security issues, but introduces new ones. Hidden Terminal Problem Exposed Terminal Problem MITM Attack(Man-in-the-middle attacks)

Hidden Terminal Problem

The hidden node/ terminal problem found at a point to multipoint network and it is defined as being one in which three or more nodes are present. Let there are three nodes: node A, node B and node C.

A and C cannot hear each other. A sends to B, C cannot receive A. C wants to send B, C senses a free medium. Collision occurs at B. A cannot receive the collision. A is hidden for C.

Exposed Terminal Problem

Suppose there are four nodes: node A, node B, node C and node D.Here, B can send to both A and C. C can send to D, but not to A or B. A and C cannot hear each other.

Now the Problem as follows When B transmits to A, C detects the transmission using the carrier sense mechanism. So C defers transmitting to D. But C could have sent to D, so blocked unnecessarily.

MITM Attack
Attacker spoofes a disassociate message from the victim The victim starts to look for a new access point, and the attacker advertises his own AP on a different channel, using the real APs MAC address The attacker connects to the real AP using victims MAC address

Wi-Fi Security Techniques

There are following security mechanisms in Wi-Fi networks.such as,
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) Wireless Protected Access (WPA)

Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)

Provide same level of security as by wired network. Uses RC4 based 40-or 104-bit encryption with pre-shared keys(static key) and 24 bit initialization vectors (IV). Encrypt data only between 802.11 stations.once it enters the wired side of the network (between access point) WEP is no longer valid. Security Issue with WEP Short IV Static key Offers very little security at all.

Wireless Protected Access (WPA)

This is a new standard from the Wi-Fi Alliance that uses the 40 or 104-bit WEP key, but it changes the key on each packet. That changing key functionality is called the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP). Uses RC4,dynamic encryption with sessionkeys and 48 bit initialization vectors (IV).

Encryption provide Protection against man-in-the-middle attacks.

Advantages
Mobility Ease of Installation Flexibility Cost Reliability Security Use unlicensed part of the radio spectrum Roaming Speed

Limitations
Compatibility and Interpretability Billing Issues Interference Mobility High power consumption Limited range Data security risks

Conclusion
Wi-Fi is a universal wireless networking technology that utilizes radio frequencies to transfer data. Wi-Fi allows for high speed Internet connections without the use of cables or wires.

It allows you to connect to the Internet from just about anywhere a coffee shop, a bed in a hotel room or a conference room at work without wires. And the best thing of all, it's super fast almost 10 times faster than a regular dial-up connection.

What is Next?
Now the focus in wireless is shifting to the wide area. Wi-Max, short for Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is defined in IEEE 802.16 standards is designed to deliver a metro area broadband wireless access (BWA) service. Wi-MAX is similar wireless system to Wi-Fi, but on a much larger scale and at faster speeds.

Thank you