Secure Roaming in 802.11 Networks

Secure Roaming in 802.11 Networks offers a comprehensive treatise on Wi-Fi 802.11 roaming by comparing/contrasting it to cellular roaming theory and techniques. The book explores the fundamental concepts, basic theory, and key principles of 802.11 networks with roaming capabilities. It helps ensure secure and constant connectivity of laptops, PDAs and other emerging mobile devices. Today, we increasingly expect to find public Wide Local Area Network (WLAN) 802.11 access in our airports, public spaces, and hotels, and we want to maintain our connections when we're mobile and using 802.11 WLANs. However, 802.11 was not originally designed with roaming capabilities and can't, in its "pure" form, support seamless roaming between different hotspots and other 802.11 access points. This book details the theory behind various 802.11 extensions to permit roaming and describes how these extensions can be successfully implemented in 802.11 WLANs. It reviews coverage of user authentication in 802.11, as well as roaming between 802.11 and other wireless technologies. It also discusses wireless technologies and application programming interfaces. This book will appeal to RF/wireless engineers and designers, computer/data network engineers, and graduate students.

Dr. Paul Goransson has over 28 years of experience in the data communications field. He was the founder and President of Meetinghouse, which developed network access security software products for wireless and wired environments. Meetinghouse was acquired by Cisco Systems in 2006, where Paul currently serves as a Director of Engineering in the Wireless Networking Business Unit. He is also the owner/operator of Bondgarden Farm, a commercial beef and hay farm in southern Maine. Paul previously founded Qosnetics and QARobotics, which were later merged and subsequently acquired by Hewlett-Packard in 1999. Dr. Goransson has published technical articles in the fields of bandwidth reservation and wireless security. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Brandeis University in 1975, his Masters of Science in Computer Engineering from Boston University in 1981, and his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of New Hampshire in 1994. Dr. Goransson has previously served as an adjunct Professor at the School of Computing at Armstrong Atlantic State University.

Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Cellular Telephony: Wireless Roaming Pioneers Chapter 3: Roaming in 802.11 WLANs: General Principles Chapter 4: Dynammitcs of 802.11 Task Groups Chapter 5: Practical Aspects of Basic 802.11 Roaming Chapter 6: Fundamentals of User Authentication in 802.11 Chapter 7: Roaming Securely in 802.11 Chapter 8: Proprietary Solutions for Roaming in 802.11 Networks Chapter 9: The 802.11 Workgroups' Solutions for Fast Secure Roaming Chapter 10: Roaming between 802.11 and Other Wireless Technologies Chapter 11: Future Directions