Novell LINUX ENTERPRISE DESKTOP 11 - ADMINISTRATION GUIDE 17-03-2009 Administration Manual page 284

Table 20.1
Name
802.11 Legacy
802.11a
802.11b
802.11g
802.11n draft
802.11 Legacy cards are not supported by SUSE® Linux Enterprise Desktop. Most
cards using 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g and 802.11n draft are supported. New cards
usually comply with the 802.11n draft standard, but cards using 802.11g are still
available.
20.1.1 Function
In wireless networking, various techniques and configurations are used to ensure fast,
high-quality, and secure connections. Different operating types suit different setups. It
can be difficult to choose the right authentication method. The available encryption
methods have different advantages and pitfalls.
Basically, wireless networks can be classified as managed networks and ad-hoc networks.
Managed networks have a managing element: the access point. In this mode (also re-
ferred to as infrastructure mode), all connections of the WLAN stations in the network
run over the access point, which may also serve as a connection to an ethernet. Ad-hoc
networks do not have an access point. The stations communicate directly with each
other, therefore an ad-hoc network is usually faster than a managed network. However,
the transmission range and number of participating stations are greatly limited in ad-
hoc networks. They also do not support WPA authentication. Therefore, an access point
272 Administration Guide
Overview of Various WLAN Standards
Band (GHz)
2.4
5
2.4
2.4
2.4 and/or 5
Maximum Note
Transmission
Rate (Mbit/s)
2 Outdated; virtually no end
devices available
54 Less interference-prone
11 Less common
54 Widespread, backwards-
compatible with 11b
300 Common