Summary

This chapter looked at WLAN solution(s) from Cisco in the context of security, topology, performance, the generic WLAN components, the specifics of the Cisco Aironet wireless product line, and, finally, several generic WLAN deployment scenarios. Security and performance in WLANs have been significantly enhanced since the approval of the 802.11 standard in 1997. In addition, since then, IEEE revised the 802.11 standard and approved a number of supplemental standards (802.11a/b/g/i and others), expanding the choices in WLAN deployment. Physical layer considerations associated with the transmit power of a wireless device, the antenna characteristics (gain, direction), and the type of radio technology (2.4-GHz spread spectrum or 5-GHz OFDM) all have an impact on the WLAN topology and performance.

Performance and topology considerations are closely coupled in WLAN deployments. The Cisco Aironet series offers a comprehensive suite of WLAN products—which includes APs, client adapters, wireless bridges, and antennae—all of which are in compliance with the IEEE standards and which implement additional proprietary and industry-accepted protocols that have not been standardized by IEEE. Deployments of Cisco wireless products scale from a single AP or a wireless router in a workgroup or a SOHO environment to enterprise deployments with dozens of APs, bridged point-to-point links, and a large number of clients compliant with the numerous physical layer and security standards.