In The Past, WiFi Networks Were Limited To Airports, Coffee Shops, Or Special Hotels, And The Interesting Thing Is That Only First-Class Hotels Provided Access To Such Networks To Their Customers. Still, Nowadays, WiFi Networks Or 802.11 Networks Can Be Found In Most Homes And Companies.

In addition, many cities also use this technology to provide their citizens with free or low-cost Internet access. WiFi interests companies and users due to its many advantages, the most important of which are simple setup and low cost.

These networks provide a hassle-free online activity experience due to the lack of cabling and quick access of clients from anywhere to routers or access points. In addition, due to the high speed they provide, they allow users to connect without problems via smartphone, tablet, or TV.

Bright, watch your favorite movies and series. This article will look at technologies that allow you to access information via radio waves. We’ll also introduce the technologies and tools you need to implement a home or business wireless network.

What is WiFi?

A wireless network uses radio waves to connect clients to the network, just like cell phones and radios use radio signals to receive audio or video data. Communication over a wireless network is very similar to two-way radio communication. Let’s look at how it works for a detailed understanding of WiFi network performance. A computer’s wireless adapter converts data into a radio signal and sends it using an antenna.

A router sends data over the Internet using a physical Ethernet connection to another local network. The wireless router receives the signal and decodes it. To be more precise, the router gets information in the form of frames from clients, applies changes to the header of the edges, and then sends the packets to the destination through layer three or the network layer through routing algorithms.

This process also has a reverse mode; This is how the router receives information over the Internet from a node on a local network and looks at the packet header to see if it belongs to the WiFi network, .whether it is the user’s local or not whether if the answer is positive, it processes the packets, identifies the target client device through the MAC address in the box, and then translates the frame into a radio signal and sends it to the target wireless adapter.

What are the differences between WiFi radio waves and wireless device radio waves?

The radio waves used for WiFi communication are similar to those used by walkie-talkies, cell phones, and other devices. They can send and receive data, convert ones and zeros into radio waves, and vice versa. But WiFi radio waves have some significant differences from other radio waves.

WiFi radio waves are sent and received at frequencies of 2.4, 5 GHz, and, in newer models, 6 GHz. Generally, these waves have a higher frequency than those used in cell phones, walkie-talkies, and televisions. A higher frequency allows the signal to carry more data.

Current standards of the WiFi world

WiFi is implemented based on various 802.11 standards that have evolved over the past few decades. 2.4 GHz connections are somewhat marginalized because they have slower data transfer rates than the 5 GHz frequency band. However, the 2.4 bands are still used because they operate at a lower range and can transmit data over distances than 5 GHz. Under ideal conditions, the 5 GHz band has a maximum capacity of about 200 feet (61 meters), but in the real world, this distance is reduced by obstructions such as walls, doors, and other objects. Conversely, the 2.4 GHz band may work better for a user who plans to connect to the router from several rooms away, while the 5 GHz band is suitable for a faster close connection.

• The 802.11b standard was introduced in 1999 and is the slowest and least expensive WiFi standard. This standard was popular for a time due to the low cost of implementation, but it is less commonly used today due to the lower cost of implementing faster measures. The 802.11b standard can transmit radio spectrum in the 2.4 GHz frequency band and can support a data transfer rate of 11 megabits per second. This standard uses complementary code keying (CCK) modulation to improve speed.

• The 802.11a standard was introduced after the 802.11b standard and could work at a frequency of 5 GHz. This technology improved the data transfer rate to 54 Mbps. The above technology divides radio signals into sub-signals before reaching the receiver to minimize interference. The mentioned technology uses the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) mechanism, a more efficient coding technique. 

• Like 802.11b, the 802.11g standard uses a 2.4 GHz frequency to transmit data but is faster and capable of transmitting data at a rate of 54 Mbps. 802.11g also uses the exact OFDM coding mechanism 802.11a.

• The 802.11n standard was introduced in 2009 and is compatible with WiFi networks.is a, b, and g. This standard, widely used today, has more speed and range than its predecessors. For example, although 802.11g theoretically supports a transfer rate of 54 Mbps, due to network congestion, it allows access to 24 Mbps in the real world. In contrast, the 802.11n standard can achieve a speed of 140 Mbps. The mentioned standard can use four channels for data transmission. Because of this, it can theoretically support a maximum speed of 150 Mbps. However, most routers on the market only use two or three streams for data transmission. The 802.11ac standard was introduced to the networking world in 2014 and operates only on the 5 GHz frequency. The 802.11ac standard is compatible with the 802.11n standard and other standards. This standard is less prone to frequency interference. It is faster than previous standards, theoretically offering a maximum speed of 450 Mbps, although they provide slower data transfer speeds in the real world. This standard, similar to the 802.11n standard, allows data transmission through spatial streaming and can use eight channels to send data packets. This standard is sometimes called also known as WiFi 5. In addition, because of its high capacity in data transmission at the gigabit per second scale, it is also called Gigabit WiFi or VHT high throughput network, also known as Very High Throughput.

• The 802.11ax standard, known as WiFi 6, entered the world of information technology in 2019. This standard expanded the capabilities of 802.11ac based on several vital solutions. First, the new routers have increased data transfer rates to an incredible 9.2 Gbps. In addition, WiFi 6 allows manufacturers to install more antennas on a single router and establish multiple connections simultaneously without any worry of interference and slowing down. Devices released in 2019 and later can operate in the 6 GHz frequency band, and ideal conditions are about 20 percent faster than 5 GHz. 

• The following standard, officially unveiled in 2024, is the 802.11be standard, also known as the WiFi 7. This standard has a better range, supports more connections, and makes data transfer speeds significantly faster than previous versions. 

• Other 802.11 standards focus on specific applications of wireless networks, such as wide area networks (WANs) used in vehicles or technologies that allow seamless switching from one wireless network to another. 

WiFi radios can send data in any frequency band, or they can do frequency hopping to different bars in a short time. Frequency hopping helps reduce interference and allows multiple devices to simultaneously use the same wireless connection.

Now that we have an overview of WiFi standards, it’s time to look at how to connect to the Internet through a WiFi hotspot.

Hotspot in the heart of WiFi networks

As we mentioned, WiFi allows people to receive signals from wherever they are, as long as they are within the range of the WiFi network.

A hotspot is an area covered by a wireless network that allows clients to connect to the network. This term often refers to wireless networks in public places such as airports and coffee shops. These networks will enable you to access the Internet, especially when moving. While some hotspots are free, others are commercial, and you must pay a subscription fee to connect to them. To use a public or home WiFi hotspot, ensure your computer is equipped with the right equipment. Today, most new laptops, smartphones, PC motherboards, and even servers are equipped with a built-in wireless transmitter.

However, if your PC does not have such a chip, you can connect to the network via radio waves by purchasing a wireless adapter and plugging it into the system’s USB port or expansion slot. Fortunately, most adapters on the market support various network standards.

When a wireless adapter and its drivers are installed on a device such as a home computer, the computer automatically detects available networks. More precisely, when you turn on the WiFi feature on your computer or laptop at a point equipped with a WiFi connection, it displays the available networks. It allows you to connect to the Internet through public hotspots easily. 

However, the process of connecting to home wireless networks is simpler. Both networks have the ability to support different clients and are able to allow different users to connect to the network simultaneously without interruption or cabling.

How to design a wireless network?

A wireless router allows you to use wireless signals to connect computers and devices and establish a local network and the Internet. Today, most routers in the Iranian market can support a space of 30 meters. Of course, obstacles such as walls and doors can somewhat limit the process of receiving and sending signals, so if you live in a large house, you should use equipment such as repeaters to increase the coverage of the area.

 Usually, to implement a wireless network, we need the following requirements:

•  Buy an Internet subscription
•  router
•  Ethernet hub
•  Firewall
•  Wireless access point

A wireless router lets you connect computers and mobile devices using wireless signals or Ethernet cables. Also, you need to buy a network card or dongle. Any device connecting to a wireless local area network (WLAN) must have a wireless network card. Therefore, to connect desktop computers to a wireless local network, you must purchase a wireless network card and connect it to the system through a USB port.

Once you have connected your router to an internet-enabled phone line, the next step is configuring the router’s default settings to match your network information.

Most routers allow you to edit the following settings through a web interface:

•  The network name is known as the SSID service set identifier. The default network name is typically the same as the router manufacturer’s name.
•  The channel the router is using. Most routers use channel six by default. If you live in an apartment and your neighbors also use Channel 6, you may experience interference. In this case, switching to another channel should fix the problem.
•  The router’s security options are the following setting you need to configure. In the first step, you need to set a strong username and password for the network. Security is an integral part of a home wireless network or business hotspot. If you place your router to create an open hotspot, anyone with a device equipped with a wireless network card can receive signals. However, most people prefer to implement a closed network where unauthorized people are not able to connect to the network.

The following vital issue to pay attention to is the setting of information encryption algorithms. These algorithms prevent hackers from easily eavesdropping on information.

To keep the network safe, we suggest using the following methods:

The WPA2 encryption algorithm, WiFi Protected Access, was replaced by WEP and WPA and is now the recommended security standard for WiFi networks. Also, use TKIP or Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption when setting up your WiFi network. 

AES is the most secure security mechanism for protecting wireless networks. Another feature that some users enable is WPS, also known as WiFi Protected Setup, which provides a simple way to connect clients to a wireless network. In this mode, clients are able to connect to the network by entering a PIN code.

However, this method of connecting to the wireless network has vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit. Therefore, we recommend that you turn off WPS if possible.

Another advanced standard in this field is WPA3, released in 2018 and became the security standard in 2020. The above standard release aims to address WPA2 vulnerabilities by employing much more sophisticated encryption on the router and client side.

The above mechanism works in such a way that it continuously changes the security patterns; This means that if a hacker has managed to connect to a hotspot through a security breach, he will fail in the next attempt to connect. Unfortunately, not all devices on the market can support the WPA3 standard, so the safest option is the WPA2 standard.

Filtering media access control (MAC) addresses is another way to secure a wireless network.

The above mechanism works so that the user defines the client devices that can connect to the wireless network based on their MAC address.

In this case, only clients whose MAC addresses are specified by the user can connect to the network. As a result, whenever a new client is added to the network, the user must manually define the MAC address of the device in the router settings to have the ability to communicate with the network.

When you intend to set up a wireless network, pay attention to the fact that WiFi signals are always propagated from top to bottom, so the higher the router is, the better its antenna performance will be. For this reason, it is better to place the router in the central point of the house and at a height so that the client devices can receive the waves in a better way.

last word

As you can see, wireless networks are easy and inexpensive to set up, providing users with a web-based dashboard to configure the router.