Chapter 4: Wireless Networks

(Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.)

A wireless network is a network
in which at least two terminals can
communicate wirelessly.
Wireless networks are based on a link using
radio and infrared electromagnetic waves in
location and place of the usual cables.

There are several technologies that stand out from one another.
part by the emission frequency used as well as the
the rate of the transmissions.
 Wireless networks enable very
easily remote equipment of about ten
meters to thousands of kilometers. Furthermore, the installation
such networks do not require heavy
modifications to existing infrastructure such as
it is the case with wired networks.
1. The categories of wireless networks
We usually distinguish several categories of
wireless networks, according to the geographic perimeter
offering connectivity (called coverage area):
[Link] Personal Area Networks (WPAN)
•The personal (or individual, home automation) network without
notéWPAN (Wireless Personal Area Network)
concerning low-range wireless networks: from
the order of a few tens of meters. This type of network
is usually used to connect devices
(printer, smartphone, home appliances, ...) to
a computer without a wired connection or to allow the
wireless link between two machines that are very close together.
There are several technologies used for the
WPAN :
The main WPAN technology is the
Bluetooth technology (IEEE 802.15.1), launched
by Ericsson in 1994, offering a rate
theoretical of 1Mbps for a maximum range
about thirty meters.
The ZigBee technology (IEEE 802.15.4) allows
to obtain very low-cost wireless connections and
with very low energy consumption, this
which makes it suitable for being integrated into
small electronic devices (hi-fi, toys, ...).
 Finally, infrared connections allow the creation of
wireless connections of a few meters with some
rates that can reach a few Mbps. This
technology is widely used for the
home automation (remote controls) but suffers
however, disruptions caused by interference
luminous. The association irDA (infrared Data
Association formed in 1995 brings together more than
150 members.

b. Wireless local area networks (WLAN)

The wireless local area network (WLAN for Wireless Local)
Area Network) is a network that allows to cover
the equivalent of a business local area network, namely a
range of about a hundred meters. It allows to
link the terminals present in the area of
coverage. There are several technologies
concurrent
WiFi (Wireless Fidelity or IEEE 802.11)
supported by the alliance WECA (Wireless Ethernet
Compatibility Alliance offers speeds ranging
up to 54Mbps over a distance of several
hundreds of meters.
HiperLAN2 (HIgh Performance Radio LAN 2.0)
European standard developed by ETSI
Telecommunications Standards Institute), allows
to obtain a theoretical throughput of 54 Mbps on a
zone of about a hundred meters in the range of
frequency between 5,150 and 5,300 MHz.

DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless)

Telecommunication), standards for cordless phones without
domestic cables. Alcatel and Ascom are developing
for industrial environments, such as
nuclear power plants, a solution based on this
standards that limit interference.
 Access points are dust resistant and
the water. They can monitor the systems of
24/7 security and connect directly to the
telephone network to alert the manager in
case of problem.
c. Wireless Metropolitan Area Networks (WMAN)
The wireless metropolitan network WMAN (Wireless)
Metropolitan Area Network is known as
Local Radio Loop (LRL). Based on the IEEE standard
802.16, the WMAN offers a usable bandwidth of 1 to 10
Mbps for a range of 4 to 10 Km, which is intended
this technology to telecom operators.
d. Wireless Wide Area Networks (WWAN)
The wireless wide area network WWAN (Wireless Wide Area
Network is also known as network
mobile cellular. These are the most wireless networks
widespread since all mobile phones are
connected to a wireless wide area network. The main
the technologies are as follows:
GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication)
Special Mobile Group
GPRS (General Packet Radio Service)
UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications)
System)
Wimax (Worldwide Interoperability for)
Microwave Access) wireless network standard
driven by Intel with Nokia, Fujitsu, and Prowim).
Based on a frequency band of 2 to 11 GHz,
offering a maximum bandwidth of 70 Mbps over 50 km
deportee, some place it as a competitor of
UMTS, even though it is more intended for
to roaming users.
 Presentation of WiFi (802.11)
Adoption in 1997
Bande 2.4 GHZ; Bande 5 GHZ
Speed ranging from 1 Mbps to 54 Mbps
Different modulation techniques
The IEEE 802.11 standard is actually the initial standard
offering speeds of 1 or 2 Mbps. Some revisions have
were brought to the original standard in order to optimize the
throughput (this is the case for the 802.11a, 802.11b standards and
802.11g, referred to as 802.11 physical standards) or
specify elements to ensure a better
security or better interoperability.
The different WiFi standards:
2. The WiFi equipment
There are different types of equipment for implementation
location of a wireless Wifi network:

a. Wireless adapters or access cards

In Englishwireless adapter Network Interface
Controller (NIC). This is a network card according to the standard.
802.11 allowing a machine to connect to a
wireless network. WiFi adapters are available in
many PCI card formats (Peripheral Component
Interconnect), PCMCIA card (Personal Computer
Memory Card International Association), USB adapter
(Universal Serial Bus), compactflash card,…).
b. The access points
Access Points, sometimes called wireless terminals
wire, allowing access to the wired network
(to which it is connected) to the different stations
hovercraft equipped with WiFi cards. This kind of
hub is the essential element to deploy a network
centralized in infrastructure mode. Some models
offer ADSL modem functions (Asymmetric
Digital Subscriber Line
and include +/- functions like a firewall.
b. The others
Smart Display: mobile screens, supported by
Microsoft.
WiFi channels: offering the ability to play MP3s
directly on the hard drive of a computer thanks to
the integrated wireless Ethernet interface.
Personal assistants: the PDAs integrating WiFi is
sometimes more advantageous than a laptop for reading its
emails, import documents or browse the internet.
 Overhead projectors: for presentations with
portable mobiles.
Video camera: transmit images remotely to
the computer that records them.
3. Security
Radio waves intrinsically have a
great ability to spread in all directions
with a relatively large range. It is thus very
difficult to contain radio wave emissions
in a restricted area.
The main consequence of this "propagation
The 'savage' of radio waves is the ease that one can have
a person unauthorized to listen to the network,
possibly outside the building where
the wireless network is deployed.
 Where the problem lies is that a wireless network can very
well being established in a company without the
The IT department should not be informed! It's enough to
the effect of an employee connecting an access point to
a network socket for all communications
the network be made 'public' within the area of
access point coverage!
Risks associated with WiFi networks
The data interception involves listening to the
transmissions from different users of the network without
fil
The connection hijacking aimed at obtaining
access to a local network or the Internet,
The jamming of transmissions consists of transmitting
radio signals in such a way as to produce
interferences,
Service denials making the network unusable in
sending fake orders.
Basic WiFi security rules
Good positioning of the equipment
Avoid default values
Activation of encryption (WEP or WPA)
Filtering by MAC address
Disable DHCP, use fixed addresses.
Using a firewall
Data encryption
WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy): The principle of
the functioning of WEP is based on keys of
shared encryption prohibiting access to all the
people who do not know this password
(Symmetric key 64 bits or 128 bits). Each
802.11 b device (cards, access points, etc.)
use a key either a password or a key
derivative of this password. The flaw comes from
operating mode of the algorithm of
encryption (RC4) that allows any decoder to
deduce certain information leading to the
reconstruction of the key.
Each 802.11 b device (cards, points
access, etc.) uses a key, either a password,
be a key derived from this password. The flaw
comes from the mode of operation of
the RC4 encryption algorithm (Rivest Cipher 4)
which allows any decoder to deduce certain
information leading to the reconstruction of the key.
In any case, WEP is useful and should be activated.
it is already eliminating certain risks.
WAP (Wi-Fi Protected Access) to address the
insufficiencies of the WEP, its functioning relies
on a dynamic key exchange system,
renewed every 10 kb of data. This
process, called TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity
Protocol), better protects the decryption keys and
significantly improves network security
wireless even if the algorithm used remains
. unchanged. WAP was adopted in 2003, WPA2 in
2004. We can also use the algorithm
AES (Advanced Encryption Standard). The Keys
de256et de512bits
 Personal Mode and Small Networks (WPA-PSK)
Suitable for private use
• TKIP as an algorithm
• PSK (Pre-Shared Key) pre-shared key of
64 bits !!
Enterprise Mode (WPA-802.1x, RADIUS)
Suitable for professional use
Based on the standard802.1x and EAP
Extensible Authentication Protocol
• AES as an algorithm
• Dynamic key management of 256 or
512bits