wireless network performance evaluation for fcsit … network performance evaluatio…i...

WIRELESS NETWORK PERFORMANCE EVALUATION FOR FCSIT LABS

ANIZA BINTI YUSUP

This project is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Computer Science with Honours

(Network Computing)

Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA SARAWAK

2006

i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I thank my supervisor, Dr Tan Chong Eng, for his advices, the knowledge he shared and

his continuous support during the accomplishment of this project. I also thank Mr

Sapiee Hj. Jamel, for his opinions and suggestions and also to my examiner, Puan Azni

for her comments and guidelines. Information from other member of Faculty of

Computer Science and Information Technology (FCSIT) UNIMAS, including Mr

Razeki Jelihi and Mr Zulkifli Ahmat are also appreciated. My heartfelt thank also goes

to Mr Kamarulzaman Sharif of CICTS, UNIMAS for his willingness to share

information.

Finally, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my beloved family for their loving

support as well as understanding and patience and not forgotten to all of my friends for

their encouragement and helpful opinions during the course of my undergraduate study.

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ABSTRACT

ABSTRAK

Chapter 1.0 Introduction

1.1 Project Descriptions

1.2 Problem Statement

1.3 Project Objective

1.4 Project Scope

1.5 Contributions of the project

1.6 Expected Outcome

1.7 Dissertation Organization

1.8 Summary

Chapter 2.0 Literature Review

2.1 Wireless LAN (WLAN)

2.2 IEEE 802.11 Standards

2.2.1 IEEE 802.11a

2.2.2 IEEE 802.11b

i

ii

vi

x

xii

xiii

1

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

5

6

6

6

7

8

iii

2.2.3 IEEE 802.11g

2.3 Wireless LAN Technology

2.3.1 Infrared (IR) LANs

2.3.2 Spread Spectrum LANs

2.3.3 Narrowband Microwave

2.4 Wireless LAN Configuration

2.4.1 Ad Hoc Configuration

2.4.2 Infrastructure Configuration

2.5 Wireless LAN Problems

2.6 Performance Evaluation on Wireless LANs

2.7 Summary

Chapter 3.0 Methodology

3.1 Tool

3.2 Project Procedure

3.3 Summary

Chapter 4.0 System Analysis

4.1 Objective of the Simulation

4.2 Current Lab Configuration

4.3 Physical Network Arrangement.

4.4 Hardware Configuration

4.4.1 The DLink AirPlus DWL900AP+

Access Point Configuration

9

10

10

11

14

14

14

15

17

19

24

26

26

29

31

32

32

32

34

35

35

iv

4.4.2 The DLink AirPlus DWL520+ PCI

Adapter Configuration

4.5 Requirement Specifications

4.5.1 Access Point

4.5.2 Wireless LAN Card

4.6 Summary

Chapter 5.0 The Proposed Lab Configuration

5.1 The Evaluation Parameters

5.2 Network Traffic

5.3 Node Configuration

5.4 Discrete Event Simulation

5.5 The Proposed Network Layout

5.6 Simulation Results

5.6.1 Scenario 1 : Using One Access Point

5.6.2 Scenario 2 : Using Two Access Points

5.6.3 Scenario 3 : Using Three Access Points

5.6.4 Scenario 4 : Using Four Access Points

5.6.5 Scenario 5 : Using Five Access Points

5.7 Traffic Analysis

5.7.1 WLAN Throughput

5.7.2 Email Download and Upload Response Time

5.7.3 FTP Download and Upload Response Time

5.7.4 HTTP Page Response Time

39

42

42

43

44

45

45

47

49

51

52

56

56

60

64

68

72

76

76

78

80

82

v

5.7.5 Summary of all simulation results

5.8 Summary

CHAPTER 6.0 Conclusion and Future Work

6.1 Project Achievements

6.2 Problems Faced

6.3 Future Work

6.4 Overall Project Conclusion

BIBLIOGRAPHY

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

Appendix A : Wireless Access Point Specifications

Appendix B : Wireless Card Specifications

83

84

85

85

86

86

87

89

91

94

95

ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES


ABSTRACT

ABSTRAK

Chapter 1.0 Introduction




1.4 Project Scope




1.8 Summary

Chapter 2.0 Literature Review



2.2.1 IEEE 802.11a

2.2.2 IEEE 802.11b

i

ii

vi

x

xii

xiii

1

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

5

6

6

6

7

8

iii

2.2.3 IEEE 802.11g

2.3 Wireless LAN Technology

2.3.1 Infrared (IR) LANs

2.3.2 Spread Spectrum LANs

2.3.3 Narrowband Microwave

2.4 Wireless LAN Configuration

2.4.1 Ad Hoc Configuration

2.4.2 Infrastructure Configuration

2.5 Wireless LAN Problems

2.6 Performance Evaluation on Wireless LANs

2.7 Summary

Chapter 3.0 Methodology

3.1 Tool

3.2 Project Procedure

3.3 Summary

Chapter 4.0 System Analysis

4.1 Objective of the Simulation

4.2 Current Lab Configuration

4.3 Physical Network Arrangement.

4.4 Hardware Configuration

4.4.1 The DLink AirPlus DWL900AP+

Access Point Configuration

9

10

10

11

14

14

14

15

17

19

24

26

26

29

31

32

32

32

34

35

35

iv

4.4.2 The DLink AirPlus DWL520+ PCI

Adapter Configuration

4.5 Requirement Specifications

4.5.1 Access Point

4.5.2 Wireless LAN Card

4.6 Summary

Chapter 5.0 The Proposed Lab Configuration

5.1 The Evaluation Parameters

5.2 Network Traffic

5.3 Node Configuration

5.4 Discrete Event Simulation

5.5 The Proposed Network Layout

5.6 Simulation Results

5.6.1 Scenario 1 : Using One Access Point

5.6.2 Scenario 2 : Using Two Access Points

5.6.3 Scenario 3 : Using Three Access Points

5.6.4 Scenario 4 : Using Four Access Points

5.6.5 Scenario 5 : Using Five Access Points

5.7 Traffic Analysis

5.7.1 WLAN Throughput

5.7.2 Email Download and Upload Response Time

5.7.3 FTP Download and Upload Response Time

5.7.4 HTTP Page Response Time

39

42

42

43

44

45

45

47

49

51

52

56

56

60

64

68

72

76

76

78

80

82

v

5.7.5 Summary of all simulation results

5.8 Summary

CHAPTER 6.0 Conclusion and Future Work

6.1 Project Achievements

6.2 Problems Faced

6.3 Future Work

6.4 Overall Project Conclusion

BIBLIOGRAPHY

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

Appendix A : Wireless Access Point Specifications

Appendix B : Wireless Card Specifications

83

84

85

85

86

86

87

89

91

94

95

xii

ABSTRACT

There are lots of factors that can affect the performance of wireless network, such as the internal and external

interference, user capacity and the application load itself. The focus of the project is to examine the effect of the various

heavy applications running on Wireless LAN clients in FCSIT Lab to the wireless LAN throughput and the response time

for Email, FTP and HTTP applications. The project used OPNET Modeler version 10.0 to simulate the wireless network,

based on the existing network configuration in FCSIT Labs. The model must be closely similar to the real one and the

challenge was, to be able to make sure that the network configurations that are being modeled really match the existing

one. There are five scenarios created for the project, each with different number of Access Points. The performance of the

Wireless LAN found to have improved by adding more Access Point to the wireless network. However, the response time

for each application was still long, even though the WLAN throughput has improving. High application response time

might be caused by too many clients running heavy applications at the same time and accessing the Internet

simultaneously. Choosing a suitable applications load and number of users per Access Point is an important

consideration to enable the user to achieve the maximum throughput and experience better network performance.

xiii

ABSTRAK

Terdapat banyak faktor yang memberi kesan kepada rangkaian tanpa wayar, seperti gangguan dalaman atau luaran,

bilangan pengguna serta beban aplikasi itu sendiri. Fokus projek ini adalah untuk menganalisa kesan daripada penggunaan

pelbagai aplikasi yang berat, yang dijalankan oleh pelanggan dalam rangkaian lokal tanpa wayar (Wireless LAN) di dalam

Lab FCSIT, trehadap jumlah data yang di terima serta masa respon untuk aplikasi Email, FTP dan HTTP. Projek ini

menggunakan OPNET Modeler versi 10.0 dalam menjalankan simulasi untuk rangkaian tanpa wayar, berdasarkan

konfigurasi rangkaian yang telah sedia wujud di Lab FCSIT. Model yang digunakan perlulah menyamai model yang

sebenar dan cabarannnya adalah untuk memastikan konfigurasi yang dimodelkan benarbenar menyamai yang sedia

wujud. Terdapat lima senario telah dimodelkan untuk projek ini, di mana setiap satunya menggunakan bilangan ‘Access

Point’ yang berbeza. Terdapat peningkatan dari segi kualiti rangkaian tanpa wayar dengan penambahan bilangan ‘Access

Point’. Walaubagaimanapun, masa respon untuk setiap aplikasi masih panjang. Ini mungkin disebabkan terlalu banyak

pelanggan menggunakan aplikasi yang berat pada masa yang sama dan mengakses Internet secara serentak. Memilih

aplikasi yang serta bilangan pelanggan yang sesuai adalah penting untuk memastikan bilangan data yang diterima

semaksismum mungkin dan peningkatan dalam kualiti rangkaian.

x


B BS SS S

C CB BR R

C CC CK K

C CS SM MA A/ /C CA A

D DE ES S

D DH HC CP P

D DB BP PS SK K

D DC CF F

D DI IF FS S

D DQ QP PS SK K

D DS S

D DS SS SS S

D DS SS SS S/ /H HR R

E ES SS S

F FT TP P

G GF FS SK K

H HT TT TP P

I IB BS SS S

I IE EE EE E

I IR R

I IS SM M

L LO OS S

M MA AC C

O OF FD DM M

O OP PN NE ET T

P PB BC CC C

P PC CF F

P PP PP P

R RF F

B Ba as si ic c S Se er rv vi ic ce e S Se et t

C Co on ns st ta an nt t B Bi it t R Ra at te e

C Co om mp pl le em me en nt ta ar ry y K Ke ey yi in ng g

C Ca ar rr ri ie er r S Se en ns se e M Mu ul lt ti ip pl le e A Ac cc ce es ss s w wi it th h C Co ol ll li is si io on n A Av vo oi id da an nc ce e

D Di is sc cr re et te e E Ev ve en nt t S Si im mu ul la at ti io on n

D Dy yn na am mi ic c H Ho os st t C Co on nf fi ig gu ur ra at ti io on n P Pr ro ot to oc co ol l

D Di if ff fe er re en nt ti ia al l B Bi in na ar ry y P Ph ha as se e S Sh hi if ft t K Ke ey yi in ng g

D Di is st tr ri ib bu ut te ed d C Co oo or rd di in na at ti io on n F Fu un nc ct ti io on n

D Di is st tr ri ib bu ut te ed d I In nt te er r f fr ra am me e S Sp pa ac ce e

D Di if ff fe er re en nt ti ia al l Q Qu ua ad dr ra at tu ur re e P Ph ha as se e S Sh hi if ft t K Ke ey yi in ng g

D Di is st tr ri ib bu ut te ed d S Sy ys st te em m

D Di ir re ec ct t S Se eq qu ue en nc ce e S Sp pr re ea ad d S Sp pe ec ct tr ru um m

H Hi ig gh he er r R Ra at te e D Di ir re ec ct t S Se eq qu ue en nc ce e S Sp pr re ea ad d S Sp pe ec ct tr ru um m

E Ex xt te en nd de ed d S Se er rv vi ic ce e S Se et t

F Fi il le e T Tr ra an ns sf fe er r P Pr ro ot to oc co ol l

G Ga au us ss si ia an n F Fr re eq qu ue en nc cy y S Sh hi if ft t K Ke ey yi in ng g

H Hy yp pe er rt tT Te ex xt t T Tr ra an ns sf fe er r P Pr ro ot to oc co ol l

I In nd de ep pe en nd de en nt t S Se er rv vi ic ce e S Se et t

I In ns st ti it tu ut te e o of f E El le ec ct tr ri ic ca al l a an nd d E El le ec ct tr ro on ni ic c E En ng gi in ne ee er rs s

I In nf fr ra a R Re ed d

I In nd du us st tr ri ia al l, , S Sc ci ie en nt ti if fi ic c a an nd d M Me ed di ic ca al l B Ba an nd d

L Li in ne e o of f S Si ig gh ht t

M Me ed di iu um m A Ac cc ce es ss s C Co on nt tr ro ol l

O Or rt th ho og go on na al l F Fr re eq qu ue en nc cy y D Di iv vi is si io on n M Mu ul lt ti ip pl le ex xi in ng g

O Op pt ti im mi iz ze ed d N Ne et tw wo or rk k E En ng gi in ne ee er ri in ng g T To oo ol l

P Pa ac ck ke et t B Bi in na ar ry y C Co on nv vo ol lu ut ti io on na al l C Co od di in ng g

P Po oi in nt t C Co oo or rd di in na at ti io on n F Fu un nc ct ti io on n

P Po oi in nt t t to o P Po oi in nt t P Pr ro ot to oc co ol l

R Ra ad di io o F Fr re eq qu ue en nc cy y

xi

S SI IF FS S

S SS SH H

S SS SI ID D

T TC CP P

T TC CP P/ /I IP P

U UD DP P

U UN NI II I

W WE EP P

W WL LA AN N

W WS SP P

W WT TP P

S Sh ho or rt t I In nt te er r f fr ra am me e S Sp pa ac ci in ng g

S Se ec cu ur re e S Sh he el ll l

S Se er rv vi ic ce e S Se et t I ID D

T Tr ra an ns sm mi is ss si io on n C Co on nt tr ro ol l P Pr ro ot to oc co ol l

T Tr ra an ns sm mi is ss si io on n C Co on nt tr ro ol l P Pr ro ot to oc co ol l/ / I In nt te er rn ne et t P Pr ro ot to oc co ol l

U Us se er r D Da at ta ag gr ra am m P Pr ro ot to oc co ol l

U Un ni iv ve er rs sa al l N Ne et tw wo or rk ki in ng g I In nf fo or rm ma at ti io on n I In nf fr ra as st tr ru uc ct tu ur re e

W Wi ir re ed d E Eq qu ui iv va al le en nt t P Pr ro ot to oc co ol l

W Wi ir re el le es ss s L Lo oc ca al l A Ar re ea a N Ne et tw wo or rk k

W Wi ir re el le es ss s S Se es ss si io on n P Pr ro ot to oc co ol l

W Wi ir re el le es ss s T Tr ra an ns sa ac ct ti io on n P Pr ro ot to oc co ol l

vi

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 General Model of Spread Spectrum Digital Communication

System

Figure 2.2 Channel use for Frequency Hoping Spread Spectrum

Figure 2.3 Channel use for Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum

Figure 2.4 Ad hoc or peertopeer Wireless LAN

Figure 2.5 Infrastructure Wireless LAN

Figure 2.6 Infrastructure Wireless LAN with multiple Access Points and

roaming

Figure 3.1 OPNET Modeler versions 10.0

Figure 3.2 Project Editor Window

Figure 3.3 Tool Bar Buttons in Project Editor

Figure 3.4 The Project Editor Object Palette

Figure 4.1 Floor Plan of Lab 8 with 20 wireless PCs

Figure 4.2 Floor Plan of Lab 6 with 5 wireless PCs in the middle of the lab

Figure 4.3 Default setting of DWL900AP

Figure 4.4 The LAN default setting of DWL900AP+

Figure 4.5 Default Performance Settings for DWL900AP+ Access Point

Figure 4.6 MAC Filter Settings for DWL900AP+

Figure 4.7 Changing the password in Admin window

Figure 4.8 Current information for DWL900AP+ Access Point

Figure 4.9 Configuration Utility Icons

Figure 4.10 Link Quality and Signal Strength on Link Info window

Figure 4.11 Default configuration for DWL520+

11

12

13

15

16

17

27

27

28

28

33

33

35

36

37

37

38

38

39

40

41

vii

Figure 4.12 DLink AirPlus DWL900AP+ Enhanced 2.4GHz Wireless

Access Point

Figure 4.13 DLink AirPlus DWL520+ Enhanced 2.4 GHz Wireless

PCI Adapters

Figure 5.1 The Simulation Project Flow

Figure 5.2 The Wireless LAN Object Palette

Figure 5.3 Network objects used in the project

Figure 5.4 HTTP Application Configuration

Figure 5.5 Email Application Configuration

Figure 5.6 FTP Application Configuration

Figure 5.7 Wireless LAN parameters inside Modeler

Figure 5.8 The Profile configuration for each scenario

Figure 5.9 Discrete Event Simulation (DES) Configuration

Figure 5.10 One Access Point to support 50 clients running heavy applications

Figure 5.11 Two Access Points to support 50 clients running heavy

applications

Figure 5.12 Three Access Points to support 50 clients running heavy

applications

Figure 5.13 Four Access Points to support 50 clients running heavy

applications

Figure 5.14 Five Access Points to support 50 clients running heavy

applications

Figure 5.15 WLAN throughput using one Access Point.

Figure 5.16 Email download response time using one Access Point

42

43

45

46

46

47

48

48

49

50

51

53

53

54

54

55

56

57

viii

Figure 5.17 Email download response time using one Access Point

Figure 5.18 FTP download response time using one Access Point

Figure 5.19 FTP upload response time using one Access Point

Figure 5.20 HTTP page response time using one Access Point

Figure 5.21 WLAN throughput using two Access Points.

Figure 5.22 Email download response time using two Access Points

Figure 5.23 Email upload response time using two Access Points

Figure 5.24 FTP download response time using two Access Points

Figure 5.25 FTP upload response time using two Access Points

Figure 5.26 HTTP page response time using two Access Points

Figure 5.27 WLAN throughput using three Access Points

Figure 5.28 Email download response time using three Access Points

Figure 5.29 Email upload response time using three Access Points

Figure 5.30 FTP download response time using three Access Points

Figure 5.31 FTP upload response time using three Access Points

Figure 5.32 HTTP page response time using three Access Points

Figure 5.33 WLAN throughput using four Access Points.

Figure 5.34 Email download response time using four Access Points

Figure 5.35 Email upload response time using four Access Points

Figure 5.36 FTP download response time using four Access Points

Figure 5.37 FTP upload response time using four Access Points

Figure 5.38 HTTP page response time using four Access Points

Figure 5.39 WLAN throughput using four Access Points

Figure 5.40 Email download response time using five Access Points

57

58

58

59

60

61

61

62

62

63

64

65

65

66

66

67

68

69

69

70

70

71

72

73

ix

Figure 5.41 Email upload response time using five Access Points

Figure 5.42 FTP download response time using five Access Points

Figure 5.43 FTP upload response time using five Access Points

Figure 5.44 HTTP Page response time using five Access Points

Figure 5.55 WLAN throughput for the entire scenarios

Figure 5.56 Email download response time for the entire scenarios

Figure 5.57 Email upload response time for the entire scenarios

Figure 5.58 FTP download response time for the entire scenarios

Figure 5.59 FTP upload response time for the entire scenarios

Figure 5.60 Graph of HTTP Page response time for the entire scenarios

Figure 5.61 The Simulation Results

73

74

74

75

76

78

79

80

81

82

83

1

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

This section is focusing on the introduction of the project including a brief explanation

about the problem statement, the objectives, the project’s scope, the expected outcomes

and the contribution of the project.


The demand for Wireless LAN (WLAN) has increased dramatically over the past years.

Most users are convinced of its benefits such as mobility, flexibility, simplicity, less

cost of ownership, ease of installation and also scalability. Lots of research have been

done or proposed to enhance the performance of Wireless LAN, in term of its security,

roaming capabilities and etc. In Wireless LAN, the bandwidth is shared amongst the

clients and sometime problems can be caused by interference and also bottleneck. The

concept of this project is, to redesign existing wireless network configuration and

simulate it using OPNET Modeler version 10.0. Simulations are to be conducted to test

it and obtaining the expected result without even have to build a real network.

The focus of the project is to examine the effect of the various applications running on

Wireless LAN clients in FCSIT Lab. The overall performance might be affected by

factors such as the increase number of nodes in the network, the workload of the

applications and the file size. The experiments conducted in this project are important to

further improve Wireless LAN performance.

2


Wireless LAN system currently suffers from limited bandwidth, longer response time

and the wireless media is error prone. This is caused by factors such as the nature of the

physical medium (air) itself, the number of users, the latency, the propagation factors

i.e., range and multipath. These problems can decrease performance of Wireless LAN,

like inefficient HTTP and TCP performance, packet losses, and network thrashing. It is

important to find practical approaches or solutions to improve response time of Wireless

LAN so that it can meet the demand of highspeed applications. Study and research on

wireless network performance can bring benefit to the problems faced by the wireless

network today.


The objectives of this project are:

i. Understand the basic wireless network architecture, hardware used in today’s

network, learn the physical layout and topology, and use the knowledge to

design and analyze the wireless network for the Faculty of Computer Science

and Information Technology (FCSIT) wireless Lab.

ii. Use special designing and simulation tool, OPNET Modeler version 10.0 to

model Wireless LAN, simulate and analyze the expected results for every

scenario created for better performance improvement.

3

1.4 Project Scope

This project is focusing on the evaluation of Wireless LAN performance in the Faculty

of Computer Science and Information Technology (FCSIT) wireless Lab. OPNET

Modeler version 10.0 will be use to model and simulate Wireless LAN in the FCSIT

Lab. The wireless clients in the lab performing activities like Email, File transfer and

Web Browsing. The aim is to examine and evaluate the effect of various applications

used inside the FCSIT Lab to the Wireless LAN’s overall performance. This includes

the overall Wireless LAN throughput and response times for each application.


The design and the finding of the project will be the contributions to the area of wireless

networks. The performance evaluation of the Wireless LAN in FCSIT Lab will be the

beginning of a more advance research to further improve the performance of Wireless

LAN. In this project, the Application Layer of the Wireless LAN becomes the main

focus, where the appropriate selection of tool to create and simulate the scenarios will

give accurate results. By analyzing these results, any weaknesses can be detected and

solutions to these problems can be found through the evaluation and studies.

4


At the end of this project, the results from various configurations of WLAN parameters

will be analyzed and evaluated.

i. The Wireless LAN system perform under various configurations.

ii. The effect of various kinds of applications being related to the Wireless LAN

throughput and response time.

iii. The solutions to enhance the Wireless LAN performance in FCSIT lab.

iv. The best way to maintain the performance of Wireless LAN in FCSIT Lab.


Chapter 1 briefly explains all the general information of the project. The problems, the

objectives, the scope of the project, its contributions and also the expected outcome are

also stated in this chapter.

Chapter 2 provides the background information and literature review of the related

works done by previous researches and studies related to this project.

Chapter 3 specifies for the Research Methodology which describes the tool being used

and the methodology being applied within the project. All the procedures to conduct the

experiments and simulation will also be mentioned here.

5

Chapter 4, the System Analysis will discuss all the important requirements needed to

conduct the experiments, the study of the experiment and problems and also how the

experimental setup being done. All boundary conditions and assumption will also be

stated in this chapter.

Chapter 5 is The Proposed Lab Configuration which contains the result and the analysis

of the experiments performed by using the simulator.

Finally, Chapter 6 is the Conclusion and Future Work that concludes remarks and

discusses directions for future research.

1.8 Summary

The project has been divided into 6 chapters which are Introduction, Literature Review,

Methodology, System Analysis, The Proposed Lab Configuration and Conclusion and

Future Work. The focus of the project is to examine and evaluate the effect of various

applications used inside the FCSIT Lab to the Wireless LAN’s overall performance.

This includes the overall Wireless LAN throughput and response times for Email, FTP

and HTTP applications. OPNET Modeler version 10.0 will be use to model and

simulate Wireless LAN in the FCSIT Lab. By analyzing the simulation results, any

weaknesses can be detected and solutions to these problems can be found through the

evaluation and studies.

6

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter provides the background and related works done by other researches. It

also defines the procedures and methodology used in the project.


Wireless LAN is a flexible data communication system that can be the replacement or

alternatives to wired network. It transmits and receives data by using Radio Frequency

(RF) technology and using the air itself as the medium of communications. It provides

similar features and benefits of traditional LAN technology, but without any attachment

or limitation of wires or cables. Wireless LAN is being widely used today, especially for

applications in which mobility is important. Besides mobility, Wireless LAN offers

productivities, conveniences and advantages such as flexibility, ease of installation, less

cost of ownership where the long term benefits are greatest in dynamic environment

which requires frequent changes and moves, and also scalability in configuring varieties

of topologies to meet the needs of specific applications and installations.


Initial IEEE Standard 802.11 was published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics

Engineers (IEEE). Since it was introduced in 1997, IEEE 802.11 for Wireless LAN has

seen modifications and improvements in the past years and promising a brighter

wireless future. It is the standard which offers; interoperability amongst products from

wireless network performance evaluation for fcsit … network performance evaluatio…i...

Documents