A Field Guide to Wireless LANs for Administrators and Power Users

by Thomas Maufer

Covers use of all wireless standards 802.11a, b, g, i. > Strong coverage of wireless LAN security that you don't need a cryptography degree to understand. > Example configurations provided for Linux... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0131014064
• ISBN13: 9780131014060
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Length: 344 Pages
• Weight: 1.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.0" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Excellent book on Wireless LANs

This is a unique book on the topic of wireless LANs as this is a very practical book. Almost all other books on Wireless LANs are mere replica of the IEEE 802.11 standard. This book is different as it gives information about MAC-BaseBand-RF interaction, 802.11a/b/g, MAC protocol, various IEEE 802.11 rules, provides technical illustrations and tells about what features are actually implemented in shipping products. This is the only book that I have seen that describes IEEE 802.11g CTS-to-Self and IEEE 802.11i security.This book is recommended for anyone who wants to know about nuts of bolts of WLAN technology.

Review

This book covers everything on 802.11 from wireless concepts, protocols, design, security, and best practices, to the very technical details of how 802.11 wireless technology works. Being the first 802.11 wireless book I have read, I couldn't say for sure if it is 100% accurate or not, but appears to be so. A detailed understanding of networking concepts, protocols, methods, and standards is required to get the most from this book, but not required if you don't care about how some of the protocols or frequencies actually operate. There were a lot of technical illustrations that were helpful. The only complaint I have about this book, and any technical book for that matter, is that it will be outdated in a few months with the emergence of new standards.

Smokin'

This is an EXCELLENT book for detailed frame analysis, especially if you need the guts of the new security protocols. I read most every wireless LAN book that hits the market, and have written a few of my own. This book is definitely a winner. Thomas does a great job of bringing out hidden and vague areas of the 802.11 standards, and answered several detailed questions that nobody else has been able to answer. Kudos on a job well done.

Excellent intro to Wireless technology!

I am half way through reading this book and I have to say it is a very good book! It is well organized and structured. The author spent the first few chapters giving you an intro to networking, what wireless technology is all about, how it is used, all the wireless standards, etc etc. It gets very technical when the author starts talking about the wireless MAC and PHY, but that is sort of expected. The author has written two books before and his style of explaining complicated topics in a fairly easy to understand way is highly appreciated...In general, I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about wireless technology.