Wireless Networking

• Introduction
• The IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN
Standard
• Wireless Networking
• Bluetooth, WiMAX, RFID, and Mobile
Communications
• Wireless LAN Security
DRAFT
 Introduction
• So far, we have been looking at OSI Layers #1 and #2 --
the physical link and data link (MAC) layers
• We have already examined two types of wired links
o Ethernet over twisted-pair
o Fiber-optic networking
• For sheer bandwidth and speed, nothing can really beat
a wired connection.
• However, wired connections also have some
downsides...
 Introduction
• Those include:
o The necessity of having a cable and being near a wall plate
 This, of course, limits the user's mobility, even if the device itself is
mobile!
o Costs of installing cable and wall plates
o Practical limits on the number of physical connections to the
network
• Furthermore, if you ever want to upgrade the network –
speed, hardware, etc. – it will be a lot of work!
 Introduction
• When users do not need the full speed possible with a
wired connection, you can have a trade-off and gain
greater mobility and flexibility by connecting to the
network wirelessly.
• Over this part of the course, we will examine wireless
technologies, along with issues related to setup,
maintenance, and security.
 The IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN
Standard
• Just as the IEEE 802.3 standard defines the physical and
datalink aspects of wired Ethernet, the 802.11 standard
defines the same aspects of a wireless LAN (WLAN).
• Wireless networking offers a number of advantages,
most notably:
o Making networking easier and less costly in areas that would
be challenging or impossible to wire
o Increasing user mobility
 The IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN
Standard
• At the same time, the network administrator must be prepared
for the unique issues and challenges posed by WLAN setup and
maintenance -- understanding the technologies involved.
• 802.11 defines three main areas of wireless networking
o The Physical layer, which concerns the lower-level data transmission
technologies. This usually uses either of two EMR types: Radio (usually)
or Infrared (rarely)
o The MAC (media access control) layer, which handles data reliability,
access, and security
o The actual protocols and services for managing the previous
 Wireless Network Topology
• We can identify two primary WLAN topologies:
o Basic Service Set (BSS)
o Extended Service Set (ESS)
• In BSS, all clients communicate directly, having recognized and
linked wirelessly with one another (Figure 4-1)
o This is also known as ad hoc networking
o A BSS topology can be improved upon by adding an access point
 An access point is a transceiver (transmitter/receiver) that connects a WLAN to a
wired LAN (Figure 4-2)
 Here, communication between a wireless client and any other client will pass
through the access point
 Wireless Network Topology
• An ESS topology enhances user mobility by incorporating
multiple access points (Figure 4-3)
o When a user passes from one access point's range into another, we call
this a hand-off
o Assuming the access points are arranged such that their signals overlap
sufficiently, the roaming user's hand-offs will appear relatively seamless.
• In the 802.11 standard, network access is handled using carrier
sense multiple access/collision avoidance (CSMA/CA).
o When the channel (i.e., the frequency) is quiet, a client may transmit.
o Otherwise, any other clients must wait.
 Physical Layer Technologies
• We can begin discussion with some relevant terms...
• Frequency: How many wave cycles occur within a
given amount of time.
o Frequency is usually measured in hertz (Hz), such that 1 Hz
equals 1 cycle per second.
o Many of the terms that follow are defined in terms of
frequencies.
• As mentioned earlier, most wireless data transmission
takes place over the radio frequency (RF) portion of
the electromagnetic spectrum.
 Physical Layer Technologies
• The RF spectrum is divided into bands, with definite
beginning and ending points.
o These may be very wide ranges, even in the hundreds or
thousands of MHz!
o A wireless communications system will be said to "operate
within" one or more bands.
o Frequency bands are often designated or reserved for specific
purposes. For example...
 FM radio uses a band ranging roughly from 88 to 108 MHz
 The AM radio band ranges from 535 to 1605 kHz
Source: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/audio/radio.html
 Physical Layer Technologies
•These are some bands +========+===============+===================+
defined by the | Band | | Frequency ranges |
| number | Abbreviations | (lower exclusive, |
International | | (key below) | upper inclusive) |
Telecommunications +========+===============+===================+
Union, a body of the | 3 | ULF | 300-3000 Hz |
+--------+---------------+-------------------+
United Nations that | 4 | VLF | 3-30 kHz |
+--------+---------------+-------------------+
| 5 | LF | 30-300 kHz |
deals with issues related +--------+---------------+-------------------+
| 6 | MF | 300-3000 kHz |
to communication and +--------+---------------+-------------------+
| 7 | HF | 3-30 MHz |
information +--------+---------------+-------------------+
| 8 | VHF | 30-300 MHz |
technologies +--------+---------------+-------------------+
| 9 | UHF | 300-3000 MHz |
+--------+---------------+-------------------+
Key:  | 10 | SHF | 3-30 GHz |
+--------+---------------+-------------------+
| 11 | EHF | 30-300 GHz |
F = "frequency" +--------+---------------+-------------------+
L = "low", M = "medium", H = "high"
V = "very", U = "ultra", S = "super", E = "extremely"
Source: https://www.itu.int/dms_pubrec/itu-r/rec/v/R-REC-V.431-8-201508-I!!PDF-E.pdf
 Physical Layer Technologies
• There is a group of bands called the "ISM" bands -- short
for "industrial, scientific, and medical". Wi-Fi technology
uses two of those bands:
o 2.4 GHz (2.4-2.5 GHz)
o 5 GHz (~5.15-5.815 GHz)
• Not all frequencies in those bands are necessarily
available for wireless networking, though
• There are various regulatory bodies and agencies that
make these determinations.
 Physical Layer Technologies
• In terms of networking, a channel can be generally
defined as a conduit for signal transmission.
o For a wired networks, the channels would be tangible objects --
i.e., the cables.
o On WLANs, however, EMR is the transmission medium, so
"channels" are defined in terms of frequency ranges.
o Specifically, a frequency band is divided into channels.
o Ifa channel has many devices trying to broadcast at once, there
can be issues of co-channel congestion -- where everyone has
to "wait their turn".
 Physical Layer Technologies
• Example: The FM radio band -- ranging 88 to 108 MHz
-- has 100 channels
o Each channel is a 200 kHz (0.2 MHz) range within the whole:
o The first channel starts at the beginning of the band, and the
last channel ends at the end of the band.
oA channel is identified by its center frequency -- a.k.a., carrier
frequency -- so...
 The first FM channel is 88.1 (88.0-88.2) MHz
 The following frequencies proceed by increments of 0.2: 88.3, 88.5, ...
 ...until the last FM channel, which is 107.9 (107.8-108.0) MHz
 Physical Layer Technologies
• The bandwidth surrounding the carrier frequency is used
for modulation, as well as providing a buffer before the
next channel.
o What is modulation?
o For example, how do AM and FM radio differ?
• Another variable of importance is signal power or received
signal strength of a transmission
o This is typically measured in units of decibel-milliwatts (dBm).
o You need not understand the mathematics behind this unit.
 Physical Layer Technologies
• The received signal strength value will usually be between
-10 and -100 dBm
o The
closer the value is to zero, the better your signal. For
example, a signal of -20 dBm is much better than -95 dBm
o Many factors -- both hardware-related and environmental --
can affect the value.
o Asa general rule, the value will worsen with increasing distance
from the signal origin.
• Source: https://www.accuware.com/support/knowledge-base/
what-is-the-signal-strength-rss/
 Physical Layer Technologies
• If you recall, the original IEEE 802.11 standard was
released in 1997.
• Since then, there have been new standards, in the form of
regular amendments.
o Theseamendments are usually indicated by appending
alphabetical suffixes ("a", "b", "ac", etc.) to the more general
"802.11" designation -- leading to names like "802.11b" and
"802.11ac".
o Collectively, we may call them the 802.11x standards.
 Physical Layer Technologies
• Here are some of the more relevant ones:
+========+===============+===============+==================+
| Suffix | Data Rates | Range | Frequencies |
+========+===============+===============+==================+
| a | Up to 54 Mbps | Up to 75 ft. | 5 GHz |
+--------+---------------+---------------+------------------+
| b | Up to 11 Mbps | 100-150 ft. | 2.4 GHz |
+--------+---------------+---------------+------------------+
| g | Up to 54 Mbps | Up to 150 ft. | 2.4 GHz |
+--------+---------------+---------------+------------------+
| n | 200+ Mbps | Up to 150 ft. | 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz |
+--------+---------------+---------------+------------------+
| ac | Up to 1 Gbps | 115 ft.* | 5 GHz |
+--------+---------------+---------------+------------------+
* http://litepoint.com/whitepaper/80211ac_Whitepaper.pdf

• An organization known as the Wi-Fi Alliance certifies

wireless equipment based on these standards.
 Physical Layer Technologies
• Within the 802.11x standards, wireless networking makes
use of four primary physical layer signalling technologies:
1. Infrared (IR)
2. Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS)
3. Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS)
4. Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)
• IR signaling was part of the original 802.11 standard, but
it never really caught on, and it is even described as
"obsolete" within the standard itself.
 Physical Layer Technologies
• FHSS (frequency hopping spread spectrum) uses 79
channels, each 1 MHz wide, within the 2.4 GHz ISM band.
o FHSSwill repeatedly change the transmission frequency in a
sequence, in a pseudorandom.
o In other words, there is actually repetition.
o The resulting order is called the hopping sequence.
o Similar to IR, FHSS is not commonly used.
 Physical Layer Technologies
• DSSS (direct sequence spread spectrum) uses fourteen
22-MHz-wide channels within the 2.4 GHz band.
• Mathematically, DSSS involves adding "noise" (technically,
pseudorandom noise) topic the transmitted signal
o That process which is then reversed upon reception.
o In North America, we only use 11 of those 14 channels
o Thecarrier frequencies for those 11 channels start at 2.412 GHz
and end at 2.462, incrementing by 5 MHz each time.
 2.4 GHz Channels 1-11
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
2.412 2.417 2.422 2.427 2.432 2.437 2.442 2.447 2.452 2.457 2.462

1 6 11
 Physical Layer Technologies
• Because the channel widths exceed the distance
between two adjacent carrier frequencies, some of the
channels overlap.
o Thiscan create an issue called adjacent channel
interference, which is analogous to crosstalk in wired
channels.
o Thiscan actually be more problematic than co-channel
interference.
o Oneway to avoid this is for devices restrict themselves to
non-overlapping channels: 1, 6, and 11
 Physical Layer Technologies
• Finally, OFDM (orthogonal frequency division
multiplexing) divides a channel into sub-channels.
o Data can be sent over those sub-channels in parallel.
o Although the sub-channels may be overlapping, they will not
interfere with one another – which is what the term
"orthogonal" indicates.
o This allows for potentially higher data rates.
o At the same time, it consumes more power.
 Physical Layer Technologies
• Different 802.11x standards use different signal
modulation technologies
o 802.11a uses OFDM technology, in the 5-GHz band
o 802.11b, operating in the 2.4-GHz band, uses DSSS.
o 802.11g uses both DSSS and OFDM.
 Because g operates in the same frequency band as b, devices
for both standards are mutually interoperable.
 This simplifies upgrading a 802.11b network to g
 Physical Layer Technologies
o 802.11n also uses both DSSS and OFDM, while operating in
both wireless bands: 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz
 It incorporates a technique called MIMO (multiple input, multiple
output), which splits data streams into multiple parts .
 This increases the data rate, but it also consumes more power.
o 802.11ac uses OFDM, operating in the 5GHz band. It features
a number of improvements over predecessors and allows for
higher data rates:
 MUMIMO (multiuser MIMO) -- a variation on MIMO that splits the data
stream 8 ways and has wider (80 MHz!) channels
 Beamforming -- The ability to direct signal to a specific device
 Physical Layer Technologies
o There are two other amendments of note:
 802.11i: Improved data encryption on 802.11a/b/g
 802.11r: Speedier hand-offs -- crucial in the event
voice traffic becomes more common.
 Wireless (WiFi) Networking
• A wireless-capable device will have a wireless adapter
that allows it to connect to an RF channel.
o An example is the wireless NIC in your laptop or smartphone
o This adapter will provide three services:
 Data delivery
 Authentication -- ensuring you are a valid and allowed user
 Privacy

• It will make this connection via an access point.

 Wireless (WiFi) Networking

• Access points are devices that provide for:

o Connection of a device to a wireless LAN (WLAN)
o Connection (i.e., bridging) between the WLAN and the wired
network
• See Figure 4-6
• A client device will use a service set identifier (SSID) in
order to gain access to the WLAN
 Wireless (WiFi) Networking
• SSIDs are also usually a network name:
o This is often a human-readable name, such as "UMB-Student"
o The access point, then, will use the SSID to determine if the
client can connect
o When a connection is made, we call that an association
 The client will have the access point's MAC address (Figure 4-7)
 User will receive a notification if association is lost (Figure 4-8)

• The access point builds a table of MAC addresses (for

clients) to forward data packets
 Wireless (WiFi) Networking
• You can form wireless connections between buildings.
o This will place over wireless bridges:
 Point-to-point (Figure 4-9a)
 Point-to-multipoint (Figure 4-9b)
o Itcan be accomplished using rooftop antennas (Figure 4-10)
o This can be problematic because the signal can suffer
attenuation on account of obstacles and distance
• Another option is to place wireless access points
throughout a building, which requires you to perform a
site survey...
 Site Surveys
• A site survey is the process of evaluating a site and
finding the best positions for access points, so as to
allow for maximum RF availability for wireless clients.
• (What you are doing in Lab 6 is a variation on this -- in
other words, evaluating the current placement of access
points.)
• A site survey -- which can address both indoor and
outdoor environments -- will seek pertinent information
 Site Surveys
• Data sought may include....
o Power sources
o Connections to other networks, such as the wired LAN
o Locations of transmission devices, such as:
 Access points (indoor)
 Antennas (outdoor)
o Signal coverage
o Bandwidth supported
o Possible sources of signal interference
 Site Surveys
• For example, Figure 4-11 depicts:
o Several wireless access points
o Their coverage areas
o A possible path through the site, for a device user
• As we can see in the figure, at no point is the user outside of
some access point's range
• In contrast, Figure 4-12 shows us:
o The floor plan
o Available wired connections
o Points (A-D) at which signal measurements were taken
 Site Surveys
• With just one access point at position #1, signal quality
worsened from A to D (Figures 4.14-17).
• This lead the designers to add a second access point at
position #2.
• In the aforementioned figures, you can also see the Wifi
Analyzer app measuring signal strength.
• As you may remember, all the signal strength values are
negative, but the greater values are considered
stronger/better.
 Site Surveys - Examining signals
• When you are in a building, you may be able to use
signal strength to locate access points. You will be
looking for things like...
o SSID -- the network name
o Access points
o Signals

• You may get multiple signals for one SSID, especially

more common ones like UMB-Student and eduroam.
 Site Surveys - Examining signals
If you look at the signals
closely, you will see data
like the following:
o Channel number
o Frequency

o BSSID (Basic service set

identifier)
 Site Surveys - Examining signals
• Let's look at a snapshot of the eduroam signals:
o On the third floor of the Science building
o Near the elevators
• As you see, the BSSIDs look like MAC addresses.
• In particular, the first three pairs are the same, indicating
that d8:84:66 is the OUI for the access point's
manufacturer: Extreme Networks.
 Site Surveys - Examining signals
• Beyond this, you will also notice some other things:
o After
the OUI, you see another pair of digits, which is either
4c or 4e
o You see both 2.4G and 5G signals on both.
o 4c is followed by 94, while 4e is followed by e4 and f9
o You may also see other patterns following those...
 Other Wireless Technologies
• In addition to Wi-Fi, there are some technologies worth
knowing about:
o Bluetooth

o WiMAX

o RFID

o Mobile

• We will look at the first three...

 Bluetooth
• Bluetooth (henceforth, BT) is a technology with which
you are probably familiar, if you have ever connected
two more electronic devices -- of your own -- wirelessly.
• Examples?
• Some include...
o Headpiece

o Headphones

o Mobile Phone to Personal Computer

 Bluetooth
• BT -- set up by the IEEE 802.15 standard -- allows us to
replace a wired device connection (e.g., USB) with a
wireless connection.
• It uses the 2.4 GHz ISM band, which is also used by
what 802.11x standards?
ob , g , and n
• Up to 8 devices can be set up in an ad hoc network
called a piconet, where one device is the "master"
 Bluetooth
• A BT connection is set up as follows:
1. Enable BT on a device
2. The device will perform an inquiry procedure to find other available
BT devices. Also called discovery. The other devices will need to:
a. Have BT enabled
b. Be "discoverable" by other BT devices
3. If a device is found, a connection is established and synchronized
using a paging procedure.
• Setting up two devices to be connected is called pairing. For
security's sake, there may be a Passkey to restrict pairing.
 WiMAX
• WiMAX stands for Worldwide Interoperability for
Microwave Access, and its corresponding standard is
IEEE 802.16e
o Another standard -- 802.20 -- is under development
• It can provide fixed and mobile stations with
broadband wireless access (BWA).
o Fixed: Up to 30 miles
o Mobile: 3-10 miles
 WiMAX
• It can also allow for last mile broadband access over a wireless
medium.
o Last mile refers to the final linkage between access provider and client.
• Many aspects of WiMAX are not restrictive:
o Not a single protocol design.
o Serves many different types of topologies.
o Many different frequencies
o Flexible channel sizes (3.5 MHz, 5 MHz, etc.)
o Many different power levels

• Its signaling format is OFDM, which has non-line-of-sight

advantages and minimizes certain kinds of interference
 RFID
• Radio frequency identification allows for tracking
people and things using radio waves
• The idea is that:
o The object to be tracked will have an RFID tag -- also called a
transponder.
o A reader (transceiver) will send radio waves that strike the tag.
• The radio waves (sent by the reader) will cause the tag to activate
and transmit data back to the sender (i.e. the reader/transceiver).
This "reflecting back" is called backscatter.
 RFID
• RFID has substantial uses in many areas:
o Shipping, for tracking cargo
o Retail, for inventory
o Timing races, such as marathons
o Conferences, for traffic management
• Source:
http://blog.atlasrfidstore.com/what-is-rfid-used-for-in-applications
 RFID
• An RFID system can be characterized by three features:
o How the tag is powered
 Passive - using the RF energy from the reader
 Semi-active - a combination of a battery (for tag electronics) and
backscatter (for transmitting back to the reader)
 Active - using a batter for everything
o Operating frequency
 LF (low frequency) - 125/134 kHz
 HF (high frequency) - 13.56 MHz
 UHF (ultra high frequency) - 860-960 MHz and 2.4GHz
 RFID
o Communications protocol
 This is also called the Air Interface protocol.
 RFID uses the Slotted Aloha protocol, which is similar to
Ethernet in terms of avoiding collisions
 WLAN Security
• With wired connections, you have some knowledge and
control regarding who is connecting to the LAN
• However, with wireless connections, you have radio
frequencies transmitting in the air, and you can never be
completely certain....
o how far the signal reaches
o or who might be picking it up
 What is war driving?
 What is packet sniffing?
 WLAN Security
• Fortunately, we have many means of securing a wireless network...
o Change default SSID and password
 Those are given by the manufacturer itself
 They will, generally, be very well-known -- for example, by potential hackers
o Continue to change SSIDs and passwords frequently
o Turn off SSID broadcasting, so that this information is not being shared
with everyone
o Use MAC filtering
o Use RADIUS
o Use third party encryption software
 WLAN Security
• Two aspects of security are particularly important
o Authenticating clients on the network -- establishing their identities and
authorization to use the network.
o Encryption of data packets sent over the connection
• There are two main types of authentication:
o Open: This is essentially ensuring that the SSID of the client matches that
of the network. Needless to say, it is not very secure.
o Shared-key: The access point sends a data packet to the client, who uses a
shared key to encrypt the data, which is then returned to the access point,
who decrypts it.
 The cryptographic key comes from WEP (wired equivalent privacy).

 Verification of key is the basis for establishing that the client is allowed on the network
 WLAN Security
• Shared-key encryption is particularly vulnerable to malicious
cracking attempts, but it is better than no security at all.
o WEP was retired by the 802.11 standard
o However, it is still widely in use
• A better option is Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA):
o WPA (c. 2003) made substantial improvements over WEP in terms of
encryption and authentication.
o WPA2 (c. 2004) improved upon this with more sophisticated encryption
methods.
• There are many options for wireless security, requiring substantial
decision-making by the network admin.