Wireless Technology Terms, Glossary and Dictionary

WLAN: Wireless local-area networks (Wireless LAN)

Wireless local-area networks (WLAN or wireless LAN) use radio waves to connect a user device to a LAN, which extends an existing wired local area network. WLAN provides Ethernet connections over the air and operate under the 802.11 family of specifications developed by the IEEE. WLANs are built by attaching a device called the access point (AP) to the edge of the wired network. Clients communicate with the AP using a wireless network adapter similar in function to a traditional Ethernet adapter. The WLAN technology is defined by the IEEE 802.11 family of specifications, namely, 802.11, 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g and 802.11n. All use the Ethernet protocol and CSMA/CA (carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance instead of CSMA/CD) for path sharing.

Related Terms

WLAN: Wireless local-area networks (Wireless LAN)