Wifi

Wifi is a common standard to allow for wireless networking

• Users can move around freely • It’s easier to setup and usually less expensive due to not having to pay for cables • It can handle a large number of users

• Transmission speed is slower on wireless than on wired networks • Wifi relies heavily on the strength of the signal coming from the closest Wireless Access Point (WAP) • Wireless networks are less secure than wired networks

A (wireless) network interface cards (NIC) -They contain the devices MAC address

A devices Network interface card communicates with a wireless access point by broadcasting it’s MAC address

The wireless access point must be connected to a router which connects to the internet

Nowadays, we will have a home router which acts as a wireless access point and a modem all in one

• SSIDs (Service set identifiers) are used for securing wireless networks • It can be set to broadcast to any wireless device within range of the WAP

• The SSID of a network has to be known by the user if they want to connect to it. • The SSID can be hidden so it’s harder to detect • The SSID can be changed, it’s usually a scramble of letters/numbers to make it difficult to join as you have to type them all in • The SSID can also be password protected, so even if the network is found, devices won’t be able to gain access without the password

A Media Access Control address is a unique address used to identify devices as they are hardcoded into the NIC

They can be used to track devices as every MAC address is unique.

• White listing is where the mac addresses that can access the network are specified • Black listing is where the mac addresses that are not allowed to access the network are specified so cannot do so