Wireless Lan - BELINEA o.book 3.1 User Manual

Wireless LAN

(wireless network - abbreviation = WLAN)
Your notebook may contain a Wireless LAN module (optional). This module allows you to set
up a wireless-based network, and to connect with an existing wireless network. It works
according to the IEEE80.11a+b+g standard.
WLAN technology allows users to set up wireless connections inside a local area (e.g. in
a company or campus building, or in a public building such as an airport). WLANs can be
used in temporary offices, in locations where it is not possible to set up extensive cable
installations, or to extend an existing LAN so that users in different parts of a building can
work at different times.
There are two different ways to operate a WLAN.
In fixed WLANs, wireless stations (devices with radio network cards or external modems)
set up connections with wireless access points, which act as bridges between the stations
and the existing network backbone. In Peer-to-Peer (ad hoc) WLANs several users can set
up a temporary network within a limited area such as a conference room, without using
access points, and providing there is no need to use network resources.
In 1997 the IEEE confirmed the standard 80.11 for WLANs; this set a data transfer rate of 1
to  Mbit/s (Megabits per second). Under 80.11a+b+g (n), the new governing standard,
the maximum data transfer rate is 54 (300) Mbit/s over a frequency band of .4 or 5 GHz
(Gigahertz).
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