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You are here: Resources > IT Security Technical Resources Part4 > Wireless Access Point

Wireless Access Point

WAP or the wireless access point is hardware that enables wireless devices to link to a wired network using Bluetooth, WiFi, or other such standards of interconnectivity. WAP typically connects to a router through a wired network and can transmit information between wireless devices such as printers or PCs and wired devices on a given network. WAPS used for corporations—industrial-grade ones, to be more specific—are rough and rugged, so they sport a DIN rail mount and a metal cover. There's a reason for their tank-like appearance, though; larger WAPs are precision engineered to withstand operation at a higher level, where overheating can occur in lesser, lower-grade models.

These WAP types are also capable of tolerating exposure to contaminants (e.g., oil, dust, and water) and high humidity as well as a huge number of wireless-to-wired connections thanks to its extra toughness. Security for WAPs includes CCMP (AES), TKIP, WEP, WDS, IEEE 802.1x/RADIUS, WPA2, and WPA-PSK encryption. When compared to home consumer models of wireless access points, industrialized WAPs are capable of acting as a client, router, or bridge depending on the operation you want to execute. Before the dawn of wireless networks, computer network setup for schools, homes, or businesses necessitated a whole gamut of cables through ceilings and walls in order to deliver network access to all devices within a specific area.

Since the invention of WAP, users can now add hardware that can connect to the network with few or no cables at all. The latest WAPs are developed to support a protocol for receiving and sending information using radio waves rather than cables. These standards and the frequencies they utilized are defined by IEEE. The vast majority of wireless access points run under the IEEE 802.11 standards as well. As for common corporate use of WAPs, they typically call for attaching multiple WAPS to a wired network and then offering wireless access to the office LAN in one go. The WAPs are supervised by a WLAN Controller that manages automatic adjustments to security, authentication, channels, and RF power.

Controllers can be merged to make a wireless mobility group that permits inter-controller roaming. These controllers can be part of a mobility domain to grant clients access and admission throughout regional or large office locations too. This saves administrators overhead and customers time because it can re-authenticate or re-associate with zero or no delay. Most WAPs are used in home wireless networks more often than not. As for the WAPs' most common public application, the hotspot is the popular candidate. A hotspot is the pace where wireless clients can access the Internet without any consideration for the specific networks they've attached to for the moment. Large cities commonly have WiFi hotspots at the ready, wherein sites such as privately owned open access points, libraries, coffeehouses, and university campuses enable people to stay more or less online while moving around without the need for wires whatsoever. Meanwhile, a lily-pad network is basically a whole cluster of interconnected hotspots.