IT-CRUISERS: Everything IT

With fast-paced Information Technological advancements in the present Information Age, every one seeks to be enlightened so as to be relevant and up-to-date. For instance, everyone wants to get the best out of their IT gadgets, and would want to know what features and functionality such gadgets can offer. Some time last month, I overheard someone saying; "What's all these Wireless LAN, WLAN, Wi-Fi, 802.11b/g/n stuff?" "Why does my brand new laptop PC have this Wi-Fi logo and 802.11b/g beside it, while my friend's has 802.11b/g/n instead, and he calls it wireless-N. What difference does that make?" "In fact I need a faster browsing speed each time I want to browse the internet using any of these wireless Cybre cafes." These and many more are questions asked by people all around the world. However, the good news is that the answers to these and other related questions are such interesting and would make one's IT experience more enjoyable...

In order to create a WLAN, a few basic components are required, which include the following; 1.The wireless client devices; equipped with a wireless Network Interface Card (wireless NIC) 2.The Access Points (AP) or control module 3.The wired LAN backbone The Wireless Client Devices PDA Laptop PC This simply refers to users’ devices such as desktop computer systems, laptop computers and mobile gadgets like the Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) and smart phones. They have embedded wireless Network Interface Card (wireless NICs) which enables users to have access to the wireless network. The wireless NIC is a hardware device that connects a computer to a network so as to send and receive data. A wireless NIC has an antenna, either internal or external, while a wired NIC has a port (usually an RJ-45 port for cable connection). The cable connects the NIC to the network, thus establishing a link between the computer and the network. A wireless NIC performs same functio

A wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) is a flexible data communication system implemented as an extension to or as an alternative for a wired LAN. Better still, it can be implemented as a unified architecture – which provides a seamless integration of the wired and wireless infrastructure. As the name suggests a wireless LAN is one that makes use of wireless transmission medium, i.e. wireless LAN transmits and receives data over air, and minimizing the need for the wired connection. It uses Radio Frequency technology, mostly operating at the 2.4 GHz or 5.0 GHz frequency bands depending on the particular WLAN standard used. For example, the IEEE 802.11g WLAN standard operates at the 2.4 GHz frequency, while the recently ratified IEEE 802.11n operates optimally at the 5.0 GHz frequency bands. By having a wireless Network Interface Card (wireless NIC) on a desktop computer, laptop computer or a hand-held mobile device such as a PDA, and a device called Access Point (AP), it is possible to

In the present Information Age, computer networks have contributed greatly to information sharing, through support for electronic communications and access to the Information Superhighway – the Internet. A “Computer Network” refers to an interconnection of two or more computers and other related devices, basically for information sharing. The whole world is going wireless! The new technologies and standards that have been published in the past decade mean that almost everything we touch, every aspect of our lives have a wireless component in it. From cordless phones in the homes to cellular phones that are used throughout the world – to wireless local, metropolitan and wide area networks. Just as personal computers (PCs) in the 1980s forever changed how we work, and the internet in the 1990s dramatically changed how we acquire information, wireless communication is revolutionizing the way we live. Using wireless networks to send and receive messages, browse the internet and access