What Is WLAN?

A WLAN (wireless local area network) is a network of devices connected by radio-frequency signals. WLANs operate within a limited physical area, such as in an office or a small central business district. Endpoint devices connect to wireless access points, which connect and out to the internet. WLANs are commonly owned and operated by private or public enterprises that want to provide access to large numbers of mobile users and devices.

A Wireless Local Area Network connects devices wirelessly rather than by physical cables. Every device connected to a WLAN is called a station. Stations can be wireless access points (APs) or endpoint devices. APs act as hubs for all connected stations, forwarding traffic between endpoints, wired network devices, and sometimes other APs, and to the internet.

Most modern WLANs use the IEEE 802.11 standards, which are commonly known as Wi-Fi. These standards define how devices discover, authenticate, and exchange data over a WLAN. WLANs operate on unlicensed radio frequency bands, primarily 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. However, 6 GHz for Wi-Fi 6E is increasingly common.

Modern Wi-Fi routers often support dual-band or tri-band operation, allowing devices to connect on the least crowded one of those bands for better performance. This connection movement is often to avoid the more crowded 2.4 GHz band, which is shared with Bluetooth wireless connections and overlaps with radiation from standard household microwave ovens.

When a device like a laptop or smartphone searches for a wireless network, it listens for signals broadcast by nearby APs. These signals are network frames that contain the WLAN’s Service Set Identifier (SSID), which is the name you see when selecting a Wi-Fi network. In larger WLAN deployments, multiple APs will share the same SSID and use network roaming protocols to allow users to move through a larger covered location without losing connectivity.

What is the difference between WLAN and LAN?

A Local Area Network (LAN) is a wired network that connects devices within a limited area using Ethernet cables. A Wireless LAN (WLAN) provides the same functionality but uses radio waves. While WLANs are more flexible and mobile than LANs, they can potentially be more susceptible to interference due to their use of unlicensed, shared frequencies.

What is the difference between WLAN and Wi-Fi?

Wireless Local Area Network is the general term for any wireless network that connects devices within a small location. Wi-Fi is the certified name of the Wi-Fi Alliance for a specific type of WLAN based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards.

Whether WLANs are used in consumer or enterprise settings, they rely on a standard set of key components to operate effectively.

Wireless Access Points (APs)

Access points broadcast a Wi-Fi radio signal that end-user devices detect and respond to, and thus connect to the WLAN. APs typically connect to LAN resources and out to the internet using a wired connection. Peer-to-peer wireless connections among stations are common in settings where physical networking is difficult. In enterprise WLAN deployments, multiple APs share the SSID (network name), allowing users to move from location to location seamlessly.

Wireless Network Interface Cards (NICs)

Also known as Wi-Fi adapters, wireless network interface cards are installed in client devices, such as laptops, smartphones, tablets, and Internet of Things (IoT) sensors. These adapters handle the device’s wireless communication and encryption.

Wireless LAN Controllers (WLCs)

WLCs are enterprise tools that allow network administrators to separate the data plane from the control plane of their WLAN. In practice, that means they can centralize management of their WLAN (the control plane) from the physical and wireless infrastructure that transmits data (the data plane). Having a separate control plane is an important capability in managing large networks of dozens or hundreds of APs. Organizations are increasingly using cloud-based software WLCs to manage large WLANs.

Wireless network security is an important consideration given a wireless computer communication networks' accessibility, especially compared to wired networks. Due to its security considerations, the designers of the 802.11 standards have used several different generations of encryption.

WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy)

WEP is no longer considered secure. Wired Equivalent Privacy was introduced as part of the original IEEE 802.11 standard in 1997. It uses a static encryption key that is shared among all devices.

WPA and WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected Access)

In response to vulnerabilities identified in WEP by security analysts, the Wi-Fi Alliance introduced WPA and then WPA2 security between 2003 and 2004. The WPA2 standard uses the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) for encryption.

WPA3

Launched in 2018, WPA3 addressed specific issues in WPA2. It offers 192-bit encryption in enterprise security mode and is backward-compatible with WPA2, which allows user organizations to conduct phased migrations without overly disrupting service.

Enterprise authentication

WPA2 and WPA3 both include distinct Personal and Enterprise security modes. Enterprise mode allows organizations to authenticate users against their centralized, corporate directory services, such as Active Directory. This integration allows organizations to manage users and integrate multi-factor authentication (MFA) for stronger security.

Wireless networking is one of the key technologies that has enabled modern, mobile computing.

Mobility

WLANs allow users to stay connected as they move through an office, campus, or worksite. WLAN also allows you to move computing resources into locations you could not reach before. For example, the ability to connect IoT sensors through a manufacturing facility allows for increased precision and control in operations.

Cost efficiency

Running cable can be cost-prohibitive in many settings. WLANs allow you to cover a facility with Wi-Fi coverage while avoiding many of the logistical challenges of running physical cables, such as in older buildings or temporary worksites.

Scalability

Adding new APs to expand coverage is typically a straightforward process in a well-architected WLAN. Onboarding many new endpoints, such as when deploying new IoT sensors for an AWS IoT Core network, is also more straightforward than wired connections.

You can deploy wireless LANs in several different ways, depending on your location’s layout and use case. The three primary types of WLANs are infrastructure mode, ad-hoc mode, and mesh networks.

Infrastructure mode

This is the most common WLAN configuration. In infrastructure mode, wireless clients connect to a central AP, which, in turn, is typically linked to a wired local network. Multiple APs may use the same SSID to support roaming.

Ad-hoc mode

Ad-hoc mode creates a peer-to-peer wireless network among endpoint or mobile devices without using a central AP. Ad-hoc networks are typically used for quick file sharing, gaming sessions, or emergency communications where no infrastructure is available. Since an ad-hoc network lacks any centralized management, there is limited security and no connectivity to an internet service provider unless one device acts as a gateway. For these reasons, ad-hoc mode is rarely suitable for enterprise or long-term use.

Mesh networks

A wireless mesh network uses multiple interconnected access points that communicate with each other directly without a wired connection. Each AP is a node. Only one or a few nodes need to be physically wired to connect to the local network or for internet access. All the other nodes wirelessly relay data across the mesh network. This architecture is ideal for large or complex environments where running cables is impractical, for example, in older buildings or existing, crowded manufacturing plants.

Mesh networking has largely replaced legacy Wireless Distribution Systems (WDSs) due to their flexibility. A WDS worked by "hard wiring" a bridge between two APs to communicate directly. WDS technology is largely phased out, but it does have some legacy applications in industrial settings.

AWS offers a range of services to complement and support your WLAN infrastructure and hybrid cloud requirements. Explore our networking services to see where they can meet your needs:

Amazon CloudWatch is an intelligent observability service that provides actionable insights across applications and infrastructure to monitor and optimize your entire technology stack, including networks.

AWS IoT Core helps you connect, manage, and scale your device fleets easily and reliably without provisioning or managing servers.

AWS Site-to-Site VPN is a fully-managed service that creates a secure connection between your data center or branch office and your AWS resources using IP Security (IPSec) tunnels.

Get started with networking on AWS bycreating a free account today.