Wireless
networking can be thought of as Morse code for computers.For all its
complicated ability, is far simpler to use than you might expect.
Wireless networks use radio waves instead of wires to transmit data between computers. Here's how:
The Binary Code: 1s and 0s
It's well known that computers transmit information digitally, using
binary code: ones and zeros. This translates well to radio waves, since
those 1s and 0s can be represented by different kinds of beeps. These
beeps are so fast that they're outside the hearing range of humans.
Morse Code: Dots And Dashes
It works like Morse code, which is a way to transmit the alphabet over
radio waves using dots (short beeps) and dashes (long beeps). Morse
code was used manually for years via telegraph to get information from
1 place to another very quickly. More importantly for this example,
though, it is a binary system, just as a computer system is.
Wireless networking, then, can be thought of as a Morse code for
computers. You plug in a combined radio receiver and transmitter, and
the computer is able to send out its equivalent of dots and dashes
(bits, in computer-speak) to get your data from here to there.
Wavelengths And Frequencies
You might wonder how the computer can send and receive data at high
speed without becoming garbled nonsense. The key to wireless networking
is how it gets around this problem.
First, wireless transmissions are sent at very high frequencies, which
allows more data to be sent per second. Most wireless connections use a
frequency of 2.4 gigahertz (2.4 billion cycles per second) -- a
frequency similar to mobile phones and microwave ovens. However, this
high frequency produces a wavelength that is very short, which is why
wireless networking is effective only over short distances.
Wireless networks also use a technique called "frequency hopping." They
use dozens of frequencies, and constantly switch among them. This makes
wireless networks more immune to interference from other radio signals
than if they transmitted on a single frequency.
Internet Access Points
The final step for a wireless network is to provide internet access for
every computer on the network. This is done by a special piece of
wireless equipment called an access point. An access point is more
expensive than a wireless card for 1 computer, because it contains
radios capable of communicating with around 100 computers, sharing
internet access among them. Dedicated access points are necessary only
for larger networks. With only a few computers, it is possible to use 1
of them as the access point, or to use a wireless router.
Industry Standards
Wireless equipment from different manufacturers can work together to
handle these complex communications because there are standards which
guide the production of all wireless devices. These standards are
technically called the 802.11. Because of industry compliance with
these standards, wireless networking is both easy to use and affordable
today.
Wireless Is Simple To Use
If all this talk of frequencies has you worried -- relax. Wireless
networking hardware and software handle all of this automatically,
without need for user intervention. Wireless networking, for all its
complicated ability, is far simpler to use than you might expect.
