How Do Wireless Networks?

Wireless networks use radio waves work instead of wires to transfer data between computers. It's the simple version. If you are curious to know what's going on in more detail, it is explained in this article.

Ones and zeros.

I'm sure you know that computers transmit information digitally, using binary: ones and zeros. This is a way of communicating that translates very well to radio waves, because the computer can send ones and zeros as different sounds. These signals are so fast that outside the human hearing range - radio waves that you hear is, in fact, all around you all the time. It does not prevent the computer from using them, though.

Morse Code.

The way it works is a bit like Morse code. You probably already know that Morse code is a way of representing the alphabet, so it can be sent by radio using a dot (short beep) and a dash (long dash). It was used manually for years and was a great way to get information from one place to another with the invention of the telegraph. More importantly for this example, if a binary system, like a computer and those zeros.

You might think of wireless networks, and then, like Morse code for computers. The connection of a radio receiver and transmitter in the phone and the computer can send the equivalent of dots and dashes (bits, in computer jargon) to get data from one place to another.

Information on all frequencies.

You might wonder, however, how the computer could possibly transmit enough bits to send and receive data at the speed he does. After all, there must be a limit to how much can be sent in a second before it becomes just useless nonsense, right? Well, yes, but the key to the wireless network is that it circumvents this problem.

First, wireless transmissions are sent at very high frequencies, which means that more data can be sent per second. Most wireless connections use a frequency of 2.4 gigahertz (2.4 billion cycles per second) - a frequency similar to mobile phones and microwave ovens. As you know, however, a high frequency, this means that the wavelength must be very short, so that wireless networking works only in a limited area.

In addition, wireless networks, using a technique known as frequency hopping. "They use dozens of frequencies in the range, they are given, and constantly switch between them. This makes wireless networks more immune to interference from other radio signals they be if they are transmitted over a frequency.

Access points.

The final step is when it comes to all computers on a network sharing Internet access. This is done using a special piece of wireless equipment called an access point. Access points are more expensive than wireless cards for a computer as they contain radios that are able to talk with about 100 computers at the same time and share Internet access between them. Dedicated access points are really essential for larger networks, but - if you only have a few computers, it is possible to use one of them as the access point or you may just have a wireless router .

They understand.

And 'good enough, then, but how does wireless equipment made a completely different companies can work together when it's all so complicated? Well, the answer is that there are standards that all wireless devices follow. These standards are technically called the 802.11 standards, and set the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). And 'because of people stick to their wireless networking standard is so easy and cheap to use today.

You do not need to worry.

If all this talk of frequencies you have a little 'worried, do not have a wireless network hardware and software handles all this automatically, without having to do anything. Do not think that you are going to say to a wireless device, which is how often you use it, because it just does not happen, okay? Wi-Fi, all of its complex operations, it is very easy to use as you would ever expect.