26
votes
Accepted
Is wifi power consumption related to password length
will this lead to notably higher power consumption of the network device?
No. The password isn't used in literal. PBKDF2 is used on the password (with the SSID as salt and 4096 rounds of SHA1) to ...
- 82.6k
23
votes
Do Wi-Fi and IEEE 802.11 mean the same thing?
IEEE 802.11 is a standard that describes procedures, limits, values, algorithms to enstablish a WLAN connection.
Wi-Fi is a brand name owned by the Wi-Fi Alliance that certifies with pre-defined ...
- 331
19
votes
Accepted
Four layer-2 addresses in 802.11 frame header
The distinction to understand is that while an 802.11 device is transmitting to a receiving device, either one (or both) of these devices may not be the actual source or destination of the L2 traffic. ...
- 27.2k
18
votes
Accepted
Do Wi-Fi and IEEE 802.11 mean the same thing?
Wi-Fi is IEEE 802.11, the same way that ethernet is IEEE 802.3, token ring is IEEE 802.5, FDDI is IEEE 802.8, etc.
These are some of the IEEE LAN protocols, and the IEEE working groups associated ...
- 98.7k
15
votes
Do Wi-Fi and IEEE 802.11 mean the same thing?
In Short,Wi-Fi is more of a technology name and 802.11 is the IEEE standard. There are different variants of 802.11 based on your bandwidth ,Modulation schemes etc.
I would always use the specific ...
- 1,412
14
votes
Can I truly multicast over WIFI?
As I understand Wifi, it can never true multicast, as each device
holds a '1:1" relationship with the AP, and then receives the same
packet... then the next device connects and gets the same ...
- 27.2k
12
votes
Accepted
Can I truly multicast over WIFI?
Lets test this out then. If we send multicast packets to multiple devices connected to a WiFi access point at a constant rate, then the access point should report the same amount of traffic.
To run ...
- 144
12
votes
Accepted
WiFi versus Wireless LANs
Wi-Fi refers to a specific wireless LAN type (IEEE 802.11), but there are other types of wireless LAN.
All thumbs are fingers, but not all fingers are thumbs. All Wi-Fi LANs are wireless LANs, but not ...
- 98.7k
11
votes
Accepted
How is the Groupwise Transient Key used in WiFi networks?
Why then does the client need to encrypt the broadcast using the GTK?
It doesn't. Since the AP broadcasts, not the client, the client doesn't use the GTK to encrypt the frame. The AP does.
Why can'...
- 27.2k
10
votes
Accepted
Do I need to re-authenticate every time I switch a access point?
If your access points are independent, then yes, each time you connect to an access point, you need to authenticate. This happens automatically in the background but incurs some delay and the ...
- 19.5k
9
votes
Accepted
Raw-Ethernet Frames
First, Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11) is not ethernet (IEEE 802.3) any more than token ring (IEEE 802.5) or any of the other IEEE LAN standards other than 802.3 are ethernet. The frame headers are different for ...
- 98.7k
9
votes
Accepted
802.11 how do i find out if packet is encrypted with WEP or WPA
Unfortunately there was no interest in this so i had to find it out myself.
Here's the answer from a great book.
Book: https://www.safaribooksonline.com/library/view/80211-wireless-networks/...
- 221
9
votes
What does "802.11" in "IEEE 802.11" mean?
802 is the number for the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee, and 802.11 is the Wireless LAN Working Group.
The IEEE 802 committee maintains a web site, which lists the various current working groups ...
- 98.7k
9
votes
Do Wi-Fi and IEEE 802.11 mean the same thing?
802.11 are the IEEE specifications that implement wireless local area networks. In common parlance I think 802.11 is more or less synonomous with Wi-Fi. Note that Wi-Fi is actually a trademarked ...
- 2,102
8
votes
Accepted
Why can't I get a WiFi password by sending out the same SSID?
Assuming you are talking about a PSK wireless network, then you misunderstand what is actually taking place.
The PSK isn't sent from a client to the AP. Rather it is a common starting point from ...
- 27.2k
8
votes
Accepted
Why do we have authentication before association in 802.11
Why does client authenticate before associating with the AP
This does seem a bit odd. Yes, in modern 802.11 there is an open authentication that takes place before the association request/response. ...
- 27.2k
8
votes
Do I need to re-authenticate every time I switch a access point?
It depends on how your access points are set up. If your access points are centrally managed by a wireless controller, then the wireless controller will synchronize authentication traffic from radius ...
8
votes
Accepted
Why are there 11 channels in WiFi communication instead of 3?
IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) uses the 2.4 GHz ISM band that existed decades before IEEE 802.11 was defined, and the band was divided into 5 MHz channels.
Wi-Fi uses 22 MHZ bandwidth, more bandwidth than a ...
- 98.7k
7
votes
Raw-Ethernet Frames
Based on your questions and comments, I think you are missing the point of the two articles you are referencing.
When they are talking about "Raw Ethernet," they are talking about data frames that do ...
- 27.2k
7
votes
Accepted
Why would a WiFi extender use the same channel as the primary AP?
Simple, it only has one radio. One radio === one channel. If it has two (or more) radios, then it can use one for the mesh, and the others for clients.
If your WLAN employs security, then every ...
- 31.7k
7
votes
Accepted
Understanding some internals of networking
Sorry, you'll have to find some other way to eavesdrop on your "colleague." :-)
The AP, being a layer 2 device, forwards traffic based on MAC address. IF you change your IP address, you won't change ...
- 67.1k
7
votes
Accepted
Why is RTS/CTS optional for IEEE 802.11?
The reason it is optional is that in 802.11 RTS and CTS are management frames. Management frames are sent at the lowest base/basic/required data rate supported by all clients associated to the ESS, ...
- 27.2k
7
votes
Accepted
DCF and PCF in Wifi-networks
I am far from expert in this, however my belief is that the choice of DCF vs PCF is not strictly about ad-hoc vs infrastructure, but that PCF inherently can only work in infrastructure mode as there ...
- 16.2k
7
votes
Accepted
Does distance of one user from WiFi AP have negative impact on other connected users?
Does distance of one user from WiFi AP have negative impact on other connected users?
Yes, this is true at least in the traditional 802.11 network.
Why? By the nature of 802.11 wireless, a channel (...
- 27.2k
7
votes
Accepted
Can a radio share a MAC address with the ethernet interface of an access point?
That shouldn't happen. Each interface should have a unique MAC address.
Actually, each interface's MAC address should be globally unique but that isn't really the case any more. However, the vendor ...
- 82.6k
6
votes
Accepted
In 802.11 Wi-Fi, Is it better to be on the same channel as other networks instead of being in an overlapping channel?
It is better to be in the same channel as your interfering signals (if you can't find a free channel) rather than in overlapping channels that are not the same channel - if you are in a nearby channel,...
- 2,746
6
votes
Why doesnt Bluetooth Low Energy interfere with Wifi
Wifi Channel 6 is centered at 2437Mhz and is 22Mhz large, so ranging from 2426 to 2448 as you stated (well that would rather be 23Mhz large, so not sure if it is 2427-2448 or 2426-2447).
But data is ...
- 19.5k
6
votes
Accepted
Why such a large discrepancy between theoretical and real Wifi speeds?
While a rather straightforward question, the answer is quite a bit more convoluted. Simply because there are so many factors that can play into your actual throughput on wireless.
Let me start by ...
- 27.2k
6
votes
Accepted
What does MTU depend on?
The MTU is the size of the payload allowed for the data-link protocol. That is determined when the protocol is standardized, and various criteria go into the decision on the payload size. The ethernet ...
- 98.7k
6
votes
Accepted
Wireless Multipoint Bridging / Backhaul Gateway Antenna and AP Selection
does it make sense to use a 4x4 radio with omni antenna at the headend, i.e., does 4x4 mean that it can simultaneously talk to 4 remote AP's at once?
No. I forget if MU-MIMO beam forming requires a ...
- 27.2k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible