Lancom Systems LCOS 3.50 11 Wireless LAN WLAN

 Chapter 11: Wireless LAN – WLAN LANCOM Reference Manual LCOS 3.50

203

Wireless LAN – WLAN

11 Wireless LAN – WLAN

The following sections are a general description of the LCOS operating

system functions in wireless networks. The precise functions suppor-

ted by your device are described in its manual.

In this chapter we will show you briefly the technology of wireless networks.

In addition, we give you an overview of the various applications, functions

and abilities of your base station.

A Wireless LAN connects single terminals (e.g. PCs or notebooks) to a local

network (also LAN – Local Area Network). In contrast to a conventional LAN,

communication takes place via radio links rather than via network cables. This

is the reason why a Wireless LAN is also called a Wireless Local Area Network

(WLAN).

All functions of a cable-bound network are also available in a Wireless LAN:

access to files, servers, printers etc. is as possible as the connection of individ-

ual stations to an internal mail system or to the Internet access.

The advantages of Wireless LANs are obvious: notebooks and PCs can be set

up just where they are needed. Due to Wireless LANs, problems with missing

connections or structural alterations belong to the past.

IEEE 802.11 LANCOM network products comply with the IEEE 802.11 standards. These

standard’s family represents an extension to the already existing IEEE stand-

ards for LANs, of which IEEE 802.3 for Ethernet is the most popular one.

Within the IEEE 802.11 family, different standards exist for the radio transmis-

sion in different frequency ranges and with different speeds. LANCOM base

stations and AirLancer client adapters support according to their respective

type different standards:

IEEE 802.11a with up to 54 Mbps transfer rate in the 5 GHz band

IEEE 802.11b with up to 11 Mbps transfer rate in the 2,4 GHz band

IEEE 802.11g with up to 54 Mbps transfer rate in the 2,4 GHz band