Dummies, Wireless

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Part I: Wireless Networking Fundamentals
� Wireless network cameras: The D-Link DCS-5300G (www.dlink.com/
products/?sec=1&pid=342) lets you not only view your home when
you’re away but also pan, tilt, scan, and zoom your way around the
home. That’s a nanny-cam.
� Entertainment systems: NETGEAR’s EVA8000 Digital Entertainer HD
enables you to use wireless technology to stream music, video, movies,
photos, and Internet radio stations from your computer or file server to
your home stereo system. The system uses a computer on your home
network as a source, which stores your CDs in the MP3 (or other) electronic
format, and attaches just like a CD or DVD player to your home
entertainment system.
Most consumer manufacturers are trying to network-enable their devices, so
expect to see everything from your washer and dryer to your vacuum cleaner
network-enabled at some point. Why? Because after such appliances are on a
network, they can be monitored for breakdowns, software upgrades, and so
on without your having to manually monitor them.
Network infrastructure
Workstations must be electronically interconnected to communicate. The
equipment over which the network traffic (electronic signals) travels
between computers on the network is the network infrastructure.
Network hubs
In a typical office network, a strand of wiring similar to phone cable is run
from each computer to a central location, such as a phone closet, where each
wire is connected to a network hub. The network hub, similar conceptually
to the hub of a wheel, receives signals transmitted by each computer on the
network and sends the signals out to all other computers on the network.
Figure 2-1 illustrates a network with a star-shaped topology (the physical
design of a network). Other network topologies include ring and bus. Home
networks typically use a star topology because it’s the simplest to install and
troubleshoot.
Bridges
A network bridge provides a pathway for network traffic between networks or
segments of networks. A device that connects a wireless network segment to
a wired network segment is a type of network bridge. In larger networks, network
bridges are sometimes used to connect networks on different floors in
the same building or in different buildings. In a wireless home network, the
device that manages the wireless network, the access point, often acts as a
bridge between a wireless segment of the network and a wired segment.