WiFi/Ethernet

Yes. 802.11B/G uses ethernet protocol.

Bob - Thanks for the info!

" snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com" hath wroth:

802.11 wireless encapsulates 802.3 ethernet packets. If you have an ethernet wireless bridge, the data going in and out looks exactly like ethernet. If you have a wireless USB or PCI client, the interface to the operating system (NDIS) looks exactly like an ethernet interface.

What would make you think it's not?

Jeff Liebermann wrote in alt.internet.wireless:

In some ways they are quite different. Otherwise there would be no need for to 802.11 to have its own standard in the 802 family.

To mention one important difference; 802.3 is the standard for CSMA/CD, while 802.11 is for CSMA/CA. This leads to quite a few differences in the features of the two network.

Axel Hammerschmidt hath wroth:

Of course they're different. I never suggested they were equivalent, interchangeable, or replacements for each other. I said "802.11 wireless encapsulates 802.3 ethernet packets" which means that if you extract the data inside the 802.11 packets, you get 802.3.

They don't have to be ethernet packets, either.

snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com (Axel Hammerschmidt) hath wroth:

Really? How does that work? The connector on the wireless router says ethernet. The NDIS5 interface on the USB, miniPCI and PCI interfaces say ethernet on them. So, how would I connect an Arcnet, DECNet, BiSync, or Token Ring network through a Wi-Fi device?

I think what you meant is that it doesn't need to be TCP/IP. Wireless bridging is hard wired to ethernet, but not the protocol that rides on ethernet. I've run NEBEUI and IPX/SPX (Novell) over wireless successfully. However, be advised that there are problems. The traffic patterns are quite different. If the access point has some optimization for TCP/IP traffic, it may not be correct for other protocols.

Jeff Liebermann wrote in alt.internet.wireless:

The connector is usually RJ45.

No. Read the thread again.

: Message-ID:

:: My question: Does WiFi 801.b/g use the ethernet protocol?

Message-ID:

: 802.11 wireless encapsulates 802.3 ethernet packets.

The distribution system, aka the backbone network, in 802.11 wireless does not have to be Ethernet. HTH.

OK. According to IEEE 802.11-1999, it can also be 802.4 (token bus),

802.5 (token ring), 802.6 (FDDI based metro fiber), 802.9 (defunct), and 802.12 (100baseVG). Except for token ring, all of these are moribund, defunct, obsolete, and unobtainable. I believe that Madge, Cisco, and Entrasys make token bus wireless (WTRP) devices, but those are not 802.11 based. Got any non-ethernet products handy that are also 802.11 based?

Hint: Restating your assertion without any substantiation is not very good way of proving your point.

You are here referring to the diagram on page iii:

: This standard is part of a family of standards for local and : metropolitan area networks. The relationship between the standard and : other members of the family is shown below.

As stated, the diagram is: the relationship between this standard (IEEE

802.11) and other members of the (IEEE 802) family.

You still think 802.11 is wireless ethernet?

snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com (Axel Hammerschmidt) hath wroth:

Correct. That is the only mention of non-ethernet physical layer protocols in 802.11-1999, 802.11b-1999, 802.11b-Corrections-2001, and

802.11g-2003. Nice idea that never happened.

Please note that the Wi-Fi Alliance was derived from WECA, the "Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance".

Do you know of any non-ethernet 802.11 based devices? I don't. It's kinda like MPLS (Multi-protocol Label Switching) which only supports one protocol. Nice idea that never happened.

Yes. Show me a working non-802.11 ethernet product and I'll change my opinion. As far as the common home/office user is concerned, it's all wireless ethernet.

~ >You still think 802.11 is wireless ethernet? ~ ~ Yes. Show me a working non-802.11 ethernet product and I'll change my

(I read that as: "non-ethernet 802.11 product" ...)

~ opinion. As far as the common home/office user is concerned, it's all ~ wireless ethernet.

My mom's Airport Extreme ran for quite a while with nothing connected to its LAN jacks, but an RJ11 cable plugged into its POTS jack. Yet, her

802.11g equipped laptop managed to browse the Internet just fine (albeit slowly.) How could that be possible?

Aaron

Oops. I wrote it backwards. Thanks.

Inside the Airport is a dialup modem with a PPP processor, a router with NAT/PAT, a wireless access point, and an ethernet port. The laptop connects to the access point, which goes to the router, which initiates a PPP connection to her ISP via the dialup modem. No need for a physical ethernet connection. However, the laptop wireless was doing 802.11 encapsulation of ethernet and the access point was doing the same. There's ethernet in there even if there's no wired ethernet cable involved.