Wireless Communications Paper
Wireless communication involves the transmission of data from one point to another without the need to run cabling in-between. Although it seems relatively new to the end user today, it has surprisingly been around for longer than you may think dating back to the late 1800’s. The first wireless technology discovered was the Radio Frequency (RF signal). Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla were two inventors that played a huge role in developing the RF technology we still use today. By conducting many experiments using wireless technology they together came up with the RF signal that was first implemented in WWII by the US Military. It wasn’t until the 1970s’ that the first ‘wireless network’ was developed called ALOHAnet. This new wireless network was made to communicate from island to island is Hawaii. Using LAN technologies and a 400 MHz frequency band ALOHAnet was the predecessor of many wireless technologies to come.

Today we have many wireless technologies that are used for many different types of services. If you’ve used Bluetooth technology then you’ve used a Personal Area Network (PAN). A PAN network is intended for short ranges and typically controlled and used by a single person. If you’ve connected to the internet at work, a coffee shop, work, or at school then you’ve connected to part of a Wide Area Network (WAN) configured into a Local Area Network (LAN). Most people know a typical WAN by the name of WIFI, even though that’s just a business buzzword and does not stand for Wireless Fidelity. WIFI is commonly used in many households and businesses by connecting computers and printers via a wireless access point. If you own or have ever used a cell phone then you’ve used a Cellular data service. Cellular wireless speed today is measured from 2G all the way up to 4G LTE Advanced. Wireless communications via cellular signal are able to cover vast areas up to thousands of miles in range. 4G technology runs up to 200mbps, these networks provide service via VOIP.

Although wireless technologies have made our lives easier and have allowed us to accomplish everyday tasks much faster there can be a few downsides. Many smartphones these days not only have the ability to connect to WIFI they also have the ability to transmit WIFI signal as an access point, with these abilities one shortcoming is in battery life or making the WIFI cards use less power overall. There are also many different revisions of wireless devices making it difficult to integrate older technology with newer devices such as a B device on an N network could cause issues and slowdown. Another problem with wireless technologies is that when there is a problem with a wireless connection there is no medium to test for failure. Radio interference can cause slow connections or loss of data in areas where there are many devices on the same frequency, one way to help with problem is to either switch to a different 2.4Ghz frequency or change to 5Ghz devices. Security issues and protocols will be discussed next.

One of the biggest problems for any network, including wireless networks of all types, is security. Use of wireless technology makes it so that potential hackers can get into your network without even being in the same establishment. A hacker could use a spoof access point to get your computer to connect to theirs allowing them to steal personal data, or they may intercept packets of data containing passwords and personal data. To counter these cyber criminals we have come out with a few different security feature used in most routers today. The lowest security standard available, besides leaving your network open, is called Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP). WEP was the go-to security protocol pre-2003 until the IEEE declared that both WEP-40 and WEP-104 "have been deprecated as they fail to meet their security goals". After WEP Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) became the new standard while working on an 802.11i compliant security standard. Wi-Fi Protected Access II (WPA2) was that 802.11i standards security protocol which uses 256bit encryption. All new devices must be WPA2 compliant to earn a WIFI trademark making newer networks harder to hack into.
Wi-Fi is the best option of technology. Wi-Fi is not only more secure, you can operate a full scale wireless network with it (connect multiple nodes), far easier to operate and set up, lastly it allows host to be long distances apart where Bluetooth you have a very constricted range of functionality. | WIFI | Blue Tooth | Cellular | Audio-Transmission | Compressed | Compressed | Compressed | Bit-Rate | 600Mbps | 2.1Mbps | 6.2Mbps | Power Usage | High | High | Low |