How Things Work: WLAN Technologies and Security Mechanisms

This is the paper I wish I had before I was asked to start rolling out a WLAN at my corporate office. I was looking for a single source containing detailed explanation of how wireless technologies operate and how wireless security mechanisms are implemented. Skimming through tons of articles and some books on wireless subject, I was frustrated to realize that they, at best, address a specific issue or, at worst, offer an opinion not supported by any facts. Unlike them, the goal of this paper is to use specific facts and details to illustrate the concepts of wireless communication and wireless security mechanisms. This paper explains the concepts of wireless communications based on the electromagnetic theory and introduces wireless standards and elements. The central part of this paper is the detailed discussion of the wireless security mechanisms: WEP, 802.1x, and WPA. Rather than labeling either of them as weak, strong, secure, or vulnerable, it describes specific functions they perform by analyzing algorithms, protocols, and parameters involved in each mechanism.