Wireless Connectivity- Assignment

Running head: WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY
Wireless connectivity
Name of the student
Name of the University
Author Note

1WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY
Answer to question 1:
802.11b:
The 802.11b standard for wireless LAN communications is considered to operate at the
ISM frequency band. The frequency range for this standard is 2.4-2.4835 GHz in the United
States. The basic designs of this standard include a combination of 14 partially overlapped
channels. They are said to be 22 MHz wide. In the United States, 11 of these channels are
available for connectivity. A specific basic service set (BSS) using the same standards in their
devices should include the same channels for connectivity (Yuan et al., 2014). For addressing the
radio interface requirements, chip rate is 11 MHz and the supported rates for the transmission
rate is 1, 2, 5.5 and 11 Mbps. The 1 Mbps and 2 Mbps connectivity is done by adopting direct
sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) while the 5.5 Mbps and 11 Mbps are achieved by
complementary code keying modulation (CCK) techniques. The 802.11b standard frame
structure for the physical layer consists of preamble, data and header.
802.11a:
The 802.11a standard is said to operate at the 2.4 GHz frequency band. The main use of
the transmission frequencies of this standard is the use of radio frequency for communication.
The most important benefits of the 802.11a standard are the transmission data rate of 54 Mbps
(Chakraborty et al., 2014). The frame structure for the physical layer consists of preamble, data
and header. It consists of 64 point FFT, 48 data carriers, 1 DC carrier, 4 pilot carriers and
remaining as the guard carriers. The basic operation of the 802.11a standard is based on the
OFDM operations.
802.11a standard 802.11b standard
Data rate extends up to 54 Mbps Data rate extends up to 11 Mbps
OFDM is used for operations DSSS and CCK techniques for operation

2WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY
It has more than 100 carrier channels It has 14 carrier channels
Frame structure consists of preamble, data and
header
Frame structure consists of preamble, data and
header
The PLCP frame includes the reserved, length,
parity, tail, service, PSDU and Pad bits.
The PLCP frame includes Sync, frame
delimiter, signal, service, length, frame check
sequence and PSDU bits.
Answer to question 2:
a) The authentication process provided by the 802.11i standard is used to reference a
robust security network (RSN). This is mainly done by the use of two different protocols. These
are the 4-way handshake and the group key handshake. These protocols are used to provide
authentication procedures to a client when there is a presence of an authenticated server. The
main objective of the 802.11i standard is the utilization of the authentication processes as
described by the IEEE 802.1X. The process included in this standard is the development and
modification of cryptographic keys.
The process of authentication is done usage of a pre-shared key (PSK) or by using an
EAP exchange. This process is mainly used to ensure the authentication among the access points
and the client stations. The 4-way handshake ensures that both the client and the server know
each other without the use of sharing of key (Baldini et al., 2014). Instead of sharing the keys,
both of the client and the server encrypt messages and send it to each other. This message can
only be decrypted by the use of PMK. In case of successful decryption, connection is established.
b) A virtual private network (VPN) is a technology that allows the sharing of resources
among two points utilizing a private network remotely by connecting through a public network.
The working of the VPN is similar to the firewall present in local computers. The operation of
connectivity is done by accessing to the public network first. This method is followed by setting
up a VPN network between the two points. This allows remote access as well as secure