802.11 Wireless Networks: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition

Preface

People move. Networks don’t.

More than anything else, these two statements can explain the explosion of wireless LAN hardware. In just a few years, wireless LANs have grown from a high-priced, alpha-geek curiosity to mainstream technology.

By removing the network port from the equation, wireless networks separate user connectivity from a direct physical location at the end of a cord. To abstract the user location from the network, however, requires a great deal of protocol engineering. For users to have location-independent services, the network must become much more aware of their location.

This book has been written on more airplanes, in more airports, and on more trains than I care to count. Much of the research involved in distilling evolving network technology into a book depends on Internet access. It is safe to say that without ubiquitous network access, the arrival of this book would have been much delayed.

The advantages of wireless networks has made them a fast-growing multibillion dollar equipment market. Wireless LANs are now a fixture on the networking landscape, which means you need to learn to deal with them.

Prometheus Untethered: The Possibilities of Wireless LANs

Wireless networks offer several advantages over fixed (or “wired”) networks:

Mobility

Users move, but data is usually stored centrally, enabling users to access data while they are in motion can lead to large productivity gains. Networks are built because they offer valuable services to users. In the past, ...