# What is a Wireless Network?

> A wireless network carries communications over electromagnetic signals rather than requiring a cable for every connected device.

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## Content

The term covers several technologies; in enterprise networking, it often refers to an IEEE 802.11 wireless local-area network in which stations communicate through access points, although direct station-to-station modes and non-Wi-Fi wireless systems also exist.

The radio medium is shared and can extend beyond walls or property lines, so channel use, interference, coverage, capacity, mobility, and authentication all affect operation. In an 802.11 deployment, a device discovers a service, associates with it, and then obtains whatever network access its authentication, encryption, segmentation, and higher-layer policies permit.

### Key points

- **Core components:** Document access points, controllers, or management planes, antennas, channels, client stations, service-set configuration, wired uplinks, and identity or key-management dependencies.
- **Resilient design:** Survey coverage and interference, plan capacity and roaming, separate administrative access, maintain firmware, detect unauthorized infrastructure, and test failure behavior.
- **Security controls:** Use current authenticated encryption and appropriate enterprise or personal credentials, protect management traffic, isolate untrusted devices, and integrate admission with continuing authorization and monitoring.
- **Important limitation:** Wireless is not inherently insecure, but radio coverage is not a physical security boundary. An SSID, strong signal, or successful association does not authenticate the operator, establish device health, or make subsequent traffic safe.

### Related terms

[Wireless security](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/wireless-security/>) · [Service set identifier (SSID)](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/service-set-identifier/>) · [IEEE 802.1X authentication](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/ieee-802-1x-authentication/>) · [Network access control (NAC)](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/network-access-control/>) · [5G network security](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/5g-network-security/>)

### Sources

[IEEE 802.11-2024: Wireless LAN MAC and Physical Layer Specifications](https://standards.ieee.org/ieee/802.11/10548/) · [NIST SP 800-153: Guidelines for Securing Wireless Local Area Networks](https://csrc.nist.gov/pubs/sp/800/153/final)

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