What is an IEEE 802.11b Wireless LAN?
The new international standard for 11 Mbps high speed Wireless LANs. A wireless LAN utilises radio instead of cables, allowing users the freedom to roam around a building, whilst staying connected to the network normally. The radio signals penetrate many barriers, including glass, cubicle walls and wooden walls. Even so, 802.11b Wireless LANs remain secure from unauthorized access thanks to multiple layers of Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) which encrypts the wireless portion with a 40-bit or 128-bit key. Additionally in order to gain access to the network you must first know the network ID of an access point. 802.11b Wireless LANs operate in the 2.4GHz ban and are therefore untroubled by interference from devices such as mobile phones. However, microwave ovens and 2.4 GHz cordless phones may cause some interference. To date, there is no conclusive evidence that the radio waves in the 2.4 GHz range cause any health risk. Each Access Point on the Wireless LAN has a range of approximately
