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Communication Security: Wireless • Chapter 4 169

another through its Wireless Zero Configuration service (seen in Figure 4.1).The
ease with which users can connect to wireless networks contradicts the complexity
of the technology and the differences between the two kinds of networks.

Figure 4.1 Viewing the Wireless Zero Configuration Service

Furthermore, because the experience of using a wireless network is identical to
that of using an Ethernet network, there is a tendency to treat both kinds of net-
works the same.They are, in fact, quite different from one another, and an under-
standing of those differences is critical to providing an informed and effective
implementation of a secure wireless network.

Overview of Wireless

Communication in a Wireless Network

Wireless networks, like their wired counterparts, rely on the manipulation of elec-
trical charge to enable communication between devices. Changes or oscillations in
signal strength from 0 to some maximum value (amplitude) and the rate of those
oscillations (frequency) are used singularly or in combination with each other to
encode and decode information.
Two devices can communicate with each other when they understand the
method(s) used to encode and decode information contained in the changes to the

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