Answer to Question #320242 in Computer Networks for Bismark Akyen

Question

1.      Describe the most popular wireless Internet access technologies today. Compare and contrast them

Answer 1

Today, there are two wireless internet access technologies that are popular. These include:

• Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) – in a wireless LAN, it uses transmitters that are locally installed to provide internet. It works when these base stations that are equipped with radio transceivers exchange data with end devices within a short radius. Bluetooth and WiFi are the common protocols used in wireless LANs.
• 3G and 4G wide-area wireless access networks (WWAN) – this is a type of wireless technology that provides internet access by using cellular telephone networks. Herein, the transmission of packets occurs over the same wireless infrastructure and a telecommunication provider manages the base station.

Comparison

• In WLAN, radio transmissions are used to transmit data while in WWAN data is transmitted through wireless infrastructure for cellular telephones to use.
• In WLAN, packets are transmitted or received within a short distance while in WWAN data is transmitted within a radius of ten kilometers.
• WLAN can be termed as Wi-Fi while WWAN is called as 3G and 4g.