One of the hottest technologies these days is the wireless local area network (WLAN). While the technology industry has been in a slump in the last few years, the WLAN sector has shown robust growth. However, since the technology is relatively new, there are few books on WLANs. Most of these fall into two categories: technical books and layman’s books. Books in the first category focus on the technical details of the WLAN technology, and target engineers who are interested in building WLAN products or wireless networks. Books in the second category target users with no technical background, and focus on installation and troubleshooting wireless networks in home and home office environments. This book falls in between the two types. It targets users who want to not only setup WLANs, but also understand the technology behind them. The author attempts to demystify the various standards and protocols behind WLAN technology.

The book is easy to read and relatively short. It contains eight chapters. The first chapter offers an overview of WLANs, and describes the evolution of the technologies used in creating them. Chapter 2 briefly describes networking standards, namely the open systems interconnection (OSI) stack and transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP) family. In this chapter, the author shows where the WLAN standards fit in the OSI and TCP/IP stack. In chapter 3, the author provides an overview of the various Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 physical layers. He discusses the signaling and modulation schemes employed by the different IEEE 802.11 physical layer standards, namely the 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g. He describes all three standards, and compares their key characteristics. Chapter 4 describes the media access control (MAC) sub-layer protocol for WLANs. It describes the format of the control, management, and data frames, and the header fields in those frames. Chapter 5 examines, in detail, a probe response medium access control management protocol data unit (MMPDU), captured with an analyzer. In chapter 6, the author describes how the devices participating in a WLAN share the wireless media. He provides a technical overview of the protocols used for medium access, fragmentation, and retransmission. Chapter 7 covers the security aspects of WLANs. The author traces the evolution of the security mechanisms available to protect WLANs, and explains in detail the past, current, and future state of WLAN security protocols. The author ends the book with a chapter on applications, and deployment of wireless technology.

Although the author has done a good job of demystifying the complex standards that form the building blocks of WLANs, the book has a few weaknesses. First, it lacks a glossary. Acronyms are scattered throughout the book, and the lack of a glossary decreases the book’s readability. Second, the book is very technical in some chapters, and very basic in others. As a result, readers may find some of the content useless. Third, since WLAN standards and products are evolving at a very fast pace, this book runs the risk of becoming outdated quickly.

Overall, this is a good book for people who want to understand the various WLAN technologies. The author has done a good job of explaining the complex WLAN standards in a simple language. Network administrators who have to manage, secure, and troubleshoot WLANs will benefit the most from this book. Since this is more of a technical book than a layman’s how-to guide, however, people who do not have the time or aptitude to learn the technical details of WLAN technologies may not find this book useful.