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Network+ : WiFi

  1. Network+ Certification (N10-007): Syllabus
  2. Network+ : Introductions and Resources
  3. Network+ : Network Models
  4. Network+: Cabling
  5. Network+ : Topologies
  6. Network+ : Ethernet Basics
  7. Network+ : Contemporary Ethernet
  8. Network+ : Installing a Physical Network
  9. Network+ : Booting and Getting On the Network
  10. Network+ : TCP/IP Basics
  11. Network+ : Subnetting
  12. Network+: Routing Protocols
  13. Network+ : Routing and Firewalls
  14. Network+ : TCP/IP Ports and Applications
  15. Network+ : Network Naming and Sharing Resources
  16. Network+ : Secure Networking
  17. Network+ : Advanced Networking Devices
  18. Network+ : IPv6
  19. Network+ : Remote Connectivity
  20. Network+ : WiFi
  21. Network+ : Virtualization
  22. Network+ : Mobile Networking
  23. Network+ : Building a Real-World Network
  24. Network+ : Managing Risk
  25. Network+ : Protecting Your Network
  26. Network+ : Network Monitoring
  27. Network+ : Network Troubleshooting
  28. Network+: Network Monitoring

Unit 20

Chapter 14

WiFi Standards

The world of WiFi changes fast, fast, fast. We’ve gotten used to calling different types of WiFi things like 802.11g and 802.11ac, but this system has gotten non-techies so confused the the WiFi Consortium has standardized on a simpler terminology: 802.11ax, for instance, is officially WiFi 6.

CompTIA says there are two modes of Wifi:

      • Infrastructure Mode
      • Ad Hoc Mode

There’s actually a difference between peer-to-peer and ad hoc, but not as far as this test goes.

Ad Hoc mode is disabled by default in Windows 8+, but can be enabled at the command line.

Standard Wifi Version Freq Encr. Speed Beams M.plex
802.11
(“legacy mode”)		 none 2.4 GHz – 1-2 Mbps 1 keyboards, mice
802.11a WiFi 1 5 GHz – 54 Mbps 1 –
802.11b WiFi 2 2.4 GHz WEP 11 Mbps 1 –
802.11g WiFi 3 2.4 GHz WPA 54 Mbps 1 –
802.11n WiFi 4 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz WPA2 – PSK, Enterprise ~300 Mbps 4 MIMO
802.11ac WiFi 5 5 GHz WPA3 – PSK, Enterprise ~300 Mbps 8 MU-MIMO, OFDM
802.11ax WiFi 6 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz WPA3 – PSK, Enterprise ~300 Mbps 8 MIMOA, OFDMA
802.11ax WiFi 6e 6 GHz WPA3 – PSK, Enterprise ~300 Mbps 8 MIMOA, OFDMA

Wi-Fi HaLow

Low power, long range Wi-Fi® for IoT

https://www.wi-fi.org/discover-wi-fi/wi-fi-halow

Authentication and Encryption Standards

These aren’t the same as the WiFi protocol standards above. These standards control how devices authenticate to a WiFi network, and how they encrypt their traffic.

WEP

The original WiFi “security” protocol was WEP, so-called “wireless equivalent privacy”. It sucked, and its name was a lie. It used wimpy RC4 stream encryption, and cracking encryption keys was a simple game.

WPA

WPA, WiFi Protected Access, was better. It still relied on RC4, but it did the clever trick of changing the encryption key very frequently using TKIP. By the time you cracked a key, it wasn’t the key anymore. But this just invited a race.

WPA2

WPA2 moved to AES encryption, with pre-shared key (PSK) and Enterprise (meaning directory login, often involving certificates).

Info
“An Overview of Wireless Protected Access 2 (WPA2)”:
https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-wpa2-818352

But WPA2 became more susceptible as password hash (key) cracking moved onto ultra-fast GPUs.

WPA3

Thus came WPA3. Here’s technical details at the Wikipedia level:

And here’s a more friendly PC Magazine article:

Info
“What Is WPA3? More Secure Wi-Fi”: https://www.pcmag.com/news/what-is-wpa3-more-secure-wi-fi

 

WPS

So … Wifi Protected Setup is yet another lie. It’s used two ways: by pushing a button labelled “WPS” on your WAP, and for five minutes anyone can join. Think about that.

Or, you can use an 8-digit PIN number to invoke WPS over the air. 8 digits. Think even harder about that, and how fast such a PIN could be cracked.