Good question! There are lots of networks, so I’m sorry to say that it depends. Let me explain.

The smallest computer-based networks are usually PANs or Personal Area Networks. They can connect a wireless keyboard, mouse, or other devices to a computer. You may find them wirelessly linking a printer to your computer. You may have noticed these all include wireless connections. A PAN most often uses wireless technologies like infrared and Bluetooth, so it is really a WPAN (Wireless Personal Area Network).

For us wireless folks that aren’t stellar routing and switching guys, one of the most daunting network tasks is integrating our WLAN infrastructure with the existing wired infrastructure and its services. Understanding wired design topics is pretty fundamental to installing or managing any network, so it really should be on our priority list to spruce up those skills. To give you a nudge on your journey, let’s talk about DHCP for wireless clients.

I fly around the country frequently and meet a lot of people who use Wi-Fi. The consensus, I find, is that it’s a great technology with a few frustrating things. Sometimes it goes out, sometimes it gets slow, the security is opaque, etc. The good news is that the positives outweigh the negatives (otherwise people […]

When we last left off, we were considering the feasibility of replacing a WAN provider’s P and PE devices with routers. Let’s take a look at this in greater detail, to see where any potential problems might arise. Refer to Figure 1, where we have two customers, “A” and “B”, each with three sites, connected […]

Despite the popularity and widespread use of overlay VPNs for WAN service, they do have several disadvantages. Take a look at Figure 1, in which we have the logical topology for one customer with six sites, connected using a full-mesh of PVCs: Connecting six sites in a full-mesh requires fifteen PVCs. Now consider the fact […]

Question: I am in the process of moving a LAP to another network, but it only remembers the old controllers it was connected to. Can I clear previously saved controllers from my LAP? Answer: During the discovery process, the Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) and the Lightweight Access Point (LAP) play a game of hide and seek. If […]

Security is a vital consideration when planning, designing, implementing, and managing any type of network infrastructure. This is especially true for wireless local area networks (WLANs), which present a unique set of challenges to both IT specialists and security professionals. In addition to the typical problems that new network and device technologies are plagued with, […]

Last time we described what MFP can do, so now let’s talk about how you set it up; it only takes a few steps. First, in the controller’s GUI, navigate to Security > Wireless Protection Policies > AP Authentication/MFP, and in the Protection Type drop down menu select Management Frame Protection. This enables MFP globally on the […]

Another One Bites the Dust  —  a classic 80’s hit song by Queen about the impending revenge of a young man named Steve, but it could also describe what happens to a broad range of attacks aimed at your wireless network after a few well-placed clicks of your mouse. Most reconnaissance and denial of service (DoS) attacks against […]

Image via Wikipedia Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) security is one of the most important aspects of any WLAN design. The same security exposures exist on WLANs as for hard-wired Ethernet LANs. However, WLANs are actually exposed to many, additional vulnerabilities, in addition to those expected with wired Ethernet LANs. For example, someone could park […]