How do wireless networks work?
Wireless networks use radio waves rather than wires to transfer data between computers. This is the simple version. If you are curious to know what is happening in more detail, it will all be explained in this article.
One and zeros.
I'm sure you know that computers transmit data digitally, using the duo: the ones and the zeros. This is a method of communication that translates well into radio waves, where the computer can send those and yolks as different types of whistles. These whistles are so fast that they are outside the range of human hearing - radio waves you can't hear are, in fact, around you all the time. This does not prevent the computer from using it.
Morse code.
The way it works is very similar to the Morse code. Perhaps you have already learned that Morse code is a way to represent the alphabet so that it can be transmitted over the radio using a dot (short whistling) and a dash (long dash). It has been used manually for years and has become a great way to get information from one place to another with the invention of the Telegraph. More importantly, this example is a binary system, just like a computer system and zeros.
You might the.
the ink of wireless networks, then, as like Morse code for computers. You connect a built-in radio receiver and transmitter, and the computer can send its equivalent points and dashes (bit, in computer talk) to get your data from one place to another.
It's all about frequencies.
You may wonder, however, how a computer can send enough bits to send and receive data as quickly as it does. After all, there must be a limit to the amount that can be sent in a second before it just becomes useless nonsense, right? Well, yes, but the key to wireless networks is that they overcome this problem.
First of all, wireless transmission is sent at very high frequencies, which means that more data can be sent per second. Most wireless communications use a frequency of 2.4 GHz (2.4 billion cycles per second) - a frequency similar to mobile phones and microwave ovens. As you know, high frequency means that the wavelength should be very short, which is why wireless networks only operate in a limited area.
In addition, wireless networks use a technique known as "bandwidth". They use dozens of frequencies in the range they are given, and they constantly shift between them. This makes wireless networks more resistant to interference than other radio signals than they would if they were sent on just one frequency.
Access points.
The last step is when it comes to all computers on a network sharing Internet access. This is done using a special piece of wireless equipment called the access point. Access points are more expensive than wireless cards for a single computer because they have radios capable of talking to about 100 computers at the same time, sharing internet access between them. Dedicated access points are only necessary for larger networks, though - if you only have a few computers, one can be used as an access point, or you can only get a wireless router.
They understand each other.
All this is good and good, then, but how can the wireless equipment made by very different companies work together when it's all so complicated? Well, the answer is that there are standards followed by all wireless devices. These standards are technically called 802.11 standards and are developed by IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). Thanks to people's adherence to their standards, wireless networks are extremely easy and cheap to use today.
Don't worry.
If all this talk about frequencies has made you a little worried, you don't have to be - wireless networking devices and software handle all of this automatically, without having to do something. Don't think you'll have to tell one radio the frequency the other uses because it won't happen, okay? Wireless networks, despite all their complex work, are really much easier to use than you ever expected.