IEEE 802.11 Architecture

      image via google images
An 802.11 LAN derived from cellular architecture where the system is divided into cells, where each cell (Basic Services/ BSS in the 802.11) is controlled by the Main Station or Access Point (AP)

though a wireless LAN may be formed by a single cell, with a single Access Point it can also work without an Access Point. some installations will be formed by several cells, where the Access Point are connected to some kind of backbone (Distribution System) Ethernet or even wireless.

The interconnected Wireless LAN including different cells and there
respective Access Point with the Distribution System in most case always set to the upper layer of the OSI model, a single 802 network is called as Extended Service Set (ESS)

The picture shows a typical 802.11 LAN

The ESS also defines the concept of Portal, a Portal is a device that interconnects with two networks a 802.11 and another 802 LAN. This concept is an abstract description of the "translation bridge"

Wi-Fi Security Concerns

WLANs have additional security threats to consider that are RF in nature. Protocol-level attacks that attempt to penetrate Wi-Fi data security include rogue access points, authentication attacks, evil twin access point, man-in-the-middle, Wi-Fi phishing, and malicious eavesdropping. Most of these attacks exit at layer 2 of the OSI model. Proper authentication, encryption, and segmentation security solutions can be implemented to mitigate many of these well-known attacks. Layer 2 security monitoring solutions can also be put in place to detect when layer 2 attacks are taking place.

But a major oversight in current wireless intrusion detection systems (WIDS) solutions is that they have been unable to detect layer 1 security threats WIDS typically use 802.11 radio cards that have limited layer 1 visibility. They are only capable of monitoring high-level layer 1 statistics such as received signal strenght and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) across a channel. These limited capabilities are completely insufficient for full spectrum analysis. For this reason, the 802.11 radio card that resides in a mobile or sensor-based WIDS solution can perform only layer 2 security monitoring and layer 2 performance analysis. With that in mind, it should be understood that the only effective tool for accomplishing proper layer 1 spectrum analysis and layer 1 security monitoring is a true spectrum analyzer.

WFS709TP Wireless Control

The NETGEAR ProSafe Smart Wireless Controller is a full-featured wireless controller that centrally manages 16 access points, delivering integrated wireless mobility, security and converged services for both wired and wireless users.

Supporting up to 256 users per ProSafe Smart Wireless Controller, the WFS709TP has built- in PoE support on all eight 10/100 interfaces. With a Gigabit Ethernet port typically used to connect the wireless controller to the network backbone, WFS709TP supports advanced security features such as 802.1x, EAP-PEAP, EAP-TLS, EAP-TTLS, 802.11i, MAC address, SSID and location-based authentication.

With identity-based security features such as support for RADIUS and AAA server support, NETGEAR ProSafe Smart Wireless Controller, truly unifies wired and wireless access without compromising on security.

Deployment

Deployed as an overlay on the existing network infrastructure, WFS709TP centrally manages, deploys, monitors and controls your wireless infrastructure. Supporting multiple deployment architectures including standalone wireless controller deployments to hierarchical setups in master/local configurations, the NETGEAR ProSafe Smart Wireless Controller, can be configured in “master” mode where all the configuration and security parameters are managed for the entire wireless network. In addition, WFS709TP can be configured in “local” mode, acting as policy enforcement points for the “master” controller as part of a hierarchical setup.

The overall Smart Wireless Controller solution supports up to 32 access points with the Smart Wireless Controllers configured in redundant master/local mode and up to 48 access points with the Smart Wireless Controllers configured in non-redundant master/local configuration. A standalone Smart Wireless Controller supports up to 16 access points.

IntelliFi RF Management

Targeted towards the growing business NETGEAR ProSafe Smart Wireless Controller provides continuous wireless coverage with features such as IntelliFi radio management. IntelliFi radio management provides automatic self-configuration of all radio parameters including transmit power level, channel, load balancing and interference avoidance.

For low-latency applications such as VoIP, NETGEAR ProSafe Wireless Controller delivers VoIP over wireless by providing support for call admission control, voice-aware fast-roaming and strict over-the-air QoS to deliver mobile voice capabilities.

Access Points

Wireless users on the network can now experience seamless roaming as moving between multiple access points is made simple with the ProSafe Smart Wireless Controller centralized architecture. All user states, including security and mobility information, are maintained in the centralized Smart Wireless Controller. Access points (AP’s) act as logical extensions to the WFS709TP, accepting wireless traffic and sending it to the Wireless Controller over IP tunnels.

Access points supported include NETGEAR ProSafe 802.11a/g Dual Band Light Wireless Access Point (WAGL102) and NETGEAR ProSafe 802.11g Light Wireless Access Point (WGL102).

The WFS709TP can also manage existing NETGEAR WG102 and WAG102 Wireless Access Point deployment by a one-time image download available on http://support.netgear.com that allows the existing wireless access point to be managed by the Wireless Controller.

RF Planning Tool

With integrated RF planning tools, administrators can input floor plan images, number of floors, building dimensions, desired coverage and an overlap factor for fault tolerance. The planning tools compute the predicted RF characteristics of the building, plot the optimal location of the access points and display predicted coverage.

Guest Access and Redundancy

Guest access, provided by a built-in captive portal, allows guest users connecting over the wireless network restricted guest level access to the network, prohibiting them any access to the sensitive data on the corporate network.

For mission-critical applications requiring network resiliency, the WFS709TP supports fault tolerant hardware with industry standard N+1 wireless controller redundancy and access point interleaving for access point redundancy. These features make it possible to provide a wireless network with no single point of failure, guaranteeing the highest possible availability.

How to Hack WPA

This is for security if u lost ur router's password..... I DO NOT TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYTHING HAPPENED AFTER READING THIS GUIDE ok... This is a good one, let me tell you! There can be so many issues setting up your box to actually get the tools working and i'm not even touching on that, but if you can get everything to work, you'll be cracking wireless networks like a pro in no time.

Tools
******
I've been really, really successful with basically one tool set called AirCrack. Download that.

Kismet is an excellent tool for sniffing out wireless networks as well and could prove useful. that can be download it here

NetStumbler is a Windows-based wireless tool that will detect wireless network and mark their relative position with a GPS NetStumber uses an 802.11 Probe Request sent to the broadcast destination address which causes all access point in the area to issue an 802.11 Probe Response containing network configuration information, such as their SSID and WEP status. When hooked up to a GPS NetStumbler will record a GPS coordinate for the highest signal strength found for each access point. and can be found here

An encrypted wireless network. We'll be working on WEP encrypted networks as well as static passkey WPA or WPA-PSK

Note: Make sure you can get your card into monitor mode (sometimes called raw monitor or rfmon). This is VERY important

WPA is an encryption algorithm that takes care of a lot of the vunerablities inherent in WEP. WEP is, by design, flawed. No matter how good or crappy, long or short, your WEP key is, it can be cracked. WPA is different. A WPA key can be made good enough to make cracking it unfeasible. WPA is also a little more cracker friendly. By capturing the right type of packets, you can do your cracking offline. This means you only have to be near the AP for a matter of seconds to get what you need. Advantages and disadvantages.

WPA basically comes in two flavours RADIUS or PSK. PSK is crackable, RADIUS is not so much.
PSK uses a user defined password to initialize the TKIP, temporal key integrity protocol. There is a password and the user is involved, for the most part that means it is flawed. The TKIP is not really crackable as it is a per-packet key but upon the initialization of the TKIP, like during an authentication, we get the password (well the PMK anyways). The reason this is different from WEP, is because in WEP cracking, you simply crack the key, you don't need to intercept the key, its already there, you just decrypt it with enough IV's. However, in WPA/WPA2, you need to wait for a handshake to authenticate, this means you need to wait for someone to successfully join the network using the password, and aircrack will grab the handshake encryption, and use that.

you need to bring down your wireless interface so you can modify it. Mine is rausb0, so I would type 'ifconfig rausb0 down' (That part I cut out of the image below, oops).

The commands are explained below

- modprobe -r rt73
- modprobe rt73

Bring the wireless interface back up

- ifconfig rausb0 up

Change the rate of the wireless interface to 1M, this helps a lot, but its not required. It does solve some other problems you would encounter if you don't do this.

- iwconfig rausb0 rate 1M

Bring rausb0 into monitoring mode

- airmon-ng rausb0 start

Look for your network, I am doing this at my own house, with another computer on the LAN, thus I know exactly what I am looking for.

Type the following command into the CLI or CMD to start monitoring the network(s).

- airodump-ng rausb0

This command will list the networks around you, there mac addresses, there network names, and there security method/encryption type (WPA, WPA2, WEP, OPN, we are looking for WPA or WPA2). Here is a screenshot of what you should see, it wont be exact, obviously, because you aren't in my house

See the MAC 00:00:00:00:00:F1, thats my network! Once you see the network you are looking for, hit ctrl+c to stop the search, so you can copy the MAC.

NOTE: The list of networks, you see MAC address 00:00:00:00:00:01 is connected to AP 00:00:00:00:00:F1. That is the other wireless laptop, on the network. You can view all network connections. For WPA, you will need to intercept the authentication.

Focus and capture packets of the AP you are looking at (Leave running open new terminal for further commands). Type the following command

- airodump-ng -c 1 -w psk --bssid 00:00:00:00:00:F1 rausb0

Where -c specifies the channel 1, psk is the file it will write the data to, and --bssid is the MAC of the AP.

This is the tough part.. You need to either wait for someone to try to connect to the network and type the password, or you need to try a de-authentication attack against a client that is already connected.

I have tried a de-authentication attack, but it seems my wireless card is unable to do so. But to try it, this is the following command.

- aireplay-ng -0 -a -c
so if I were to try it, with 1 try (you can even try 10, whateve you want), with the AP 00:00:00:00:00:F1, and the client 00:00:00:00:00:01, it would look like this:

- aireplay-ng -0 1 -a 00:1D:7E:98:30:F1 -c 00:1C:10:EA:03:31 rausb0

What this does exactly is attempts to kick the user off of the network, thus forcing them to rejoin the network, that is where you will capture the HANDSHAKE.

Once you see "WPA Handshake " in the upper right of the monitor mode, then you have successfully captured a handshake, which means someone else joined the network while you were monitoring it, and you captured the encrypted password!

Cracking the password.. You will need a password list. A good one too! Here is the cool thing, you are not actually trying to join the network with your passwords, you are simply encrypting the passwords in your password list in the same way your handshake is encrypted, and comparing them.

Remember earlier we named the file that the data was being written to 'psk'?... alright, just making sure, because you are going to need the name of whatever you named it, (name doesnt matter).
Type the following command into your CLI or CMD:

- aircrack -ng -w passwordlist.txt filename*.cap

So my password list is called english.txt, and my filename is psk, thus I can use psk*.cap. (I add a * after the psk, because it will have a number after the file).

Thats about it 

Securing your wireless network

Image via Wikipedia

Wireless network security should be your first priority as your setting up a router. An unsecured wireless network is an open invitation to trouble. Your neighbors, nearby businesses, even a stranger parked out in the street can access your network if it’s not secured. Wireless Networking Security Basics

Securing your wireless network is easy with these tips:

• Don’t leave defaults. Your router or access point is set up via a Web page that connects directly to the device. If you haven’t done so already, change the administration username and password. Hackers that know the login defaults will have an easy time configuring your network to be an open book.

• Get cryptic. Wireless network equipment can scramble the data that passes between computers on the network. Make sure to turn on the strongest encryption that all of your computers will support. It is crucial that all computers use the same type of encryption, or they won’t be able to communicate with each other. WPA and WEP are common encryption standards.

• Be picky. All network cards and hardware have unique identifiers called MAC addresses. Your router can be configured to only allow access to certain MAC addresses through a function called MAC Address Filtering. Turn this on and input the MAC addresses of all the network devices (cards, access points, etc.) that should have access to your wireless network.

To find the MAC address of your wireless card, use the following procedure:

◦ From the Windows Start menu, select Run
◦ Type in the command cmd and press return
◦ In the new window, enter the command ipconfig /all
◦ The MAC address (sometimes called the physical address) will be listed as a series of letters and number in the form—XX-XX-XX-XX-XX-XX
◦ Record the MAC address and close the window
◦ Note: you can add the MAC address of visiting PCs, but don’t forget to remove them from you filter list later.

• Wall yourself in. Make sure that firewall wireless network security software is enabled on all computers and routers in the network. Firewall software is designed to block unauthorized access to hardware. This is added level of security is a simple step toward a more secure network

Extending The Range Of Wireless Networks

Although a wireless transmitter is limited in its range, wireless extension points can be installed to boost its signal and make the range of the network much larger. These wireless extension points are commonly known as repeaters.

Several companies have started to manufacture wireless repeaters, despite the fact that these devices are not part of the wireless standard. Wireless repeaters are designed to resolve certain problems with wireless coverage. The further away you are from where the wireless signal originates, the weaker the signal becomes. Eventually, you can't receive the signal at all, regardless of what equipment you have. The problem is sometimes addressed by running wires out as far as the network coverage is desired, and then have it 'break out' into wireless every now and then using a wireless access point. This is generally more trouble than it is worth, since the idea behind a wireless network is to avoid installing wires! Wireless repeaters resolve the problem in a much better way.

Wireless repeaters work as a relay, taking existing wireless signals and making them stronger. This makes the range of a signal bigger each time. If the repeaters are placed correctly, you can move computers a considerable distance from the wired portion of the network, the router or access point, for example, without failure. The single requirement of this arrangement is that the extension points must overlap; a repeater can't repeat signals that it doesn't receive. Since wireless networking signals are essentially radio signals, repeaters take all the radio signals they receive on a specific frequency and use their power to amplify the signals and rebroadcast them. The signal is not degraded in this process, so it can be repeated as many time as required.

Theoretically, wireless repeaters could be placed in a line for several miles, extending the network out that far, and because these extension points don't need complicated computer technology to operate, they are much cheaper than routers or access points. Some companies combine repeaters and direction antennas to link to LANs that are several miles apart. This is a cheaper method than worrying about connecting over the Internet or installing their own underground lines. In the future, repeater technology could create wireless networks that cover entire cities.

As a consumer, you are currently limited to getting your repeater from large manufacturing firms such as Linksys and D-Link. These companies call their repeaters by different names, including Linksys' Range Expander and D-Link's Range Extender. There are several issues to consider when buying a wireless extension point. The most important is to make sure that it is compatible with the equipment you have. Because there is no standard for wireless extension points, you're better off staying with the same company that makes the rest of your equipment or at least investigate whether any new equipment will work with your system. You should also find out whether an extension point has any Ethernet ports. While it isn't necessary that this is included, it is useful if you want to connect the extension to a wired network. This issue arises basically if you want to connect two LANs in a wireless manner.

The Advantages Of Wireless Networks

In this world of modern technology, most people prefer not to connect computers with Ethernet cables because excessive cables scattered throughout their office or home is unsightly. You can choose to install a wireless network to avoid excessive cabling. For a wireless network, there is no need to use Ethernet cables to connect your computers to the DSL or router.

Usually, a wireless network broadcast signal uses one or more wireless routers or wireless access points. The access points or router are provided with an aerial and an Ethernet port. The Ethernet port in the access point must be connected to the modem which is provided by your internet service provider, if you need internet access. If you have to move the wireless network to another place, you can simply transfer and install it in your new location easily.

You can also make a combination of wired and wireless connections with an access point or wireless router. The access point functions as the receiver and radio frequency transmitter and can interact with computers, IP Phones, PDAs and other access points having 802.11 wireless adapters. IEEE 802.11 standard of wireless transmission is utilized in a wireless local area network (WLAN). Certain other wireless networking standards such as Bluetooth are available now. However, 802.11 standard is considered as the most effectual networking solution. Actually, the aim of the developers of this network interface was to connect computers through a local area network. However, it has now been changed and a wireless network interface is also used for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and internet access.

Based on the surveys conducted so far, it is clear that you can stay connected in your network for a long period each day. If you have a laptop with a wireless connection, you can walk around your office with your laptop without losing the connection. Nowadays, certain emergency services are transferring their confidential data through a wireless network. We can consider this as an evidence for the data security which is provided by wireless network. You can send and share data quickly through a wireless network. This is the main reason why businesses and people prefer this network interface for their data sharing. Another important fact regarding wireless networks is that you can connect to the network easily even from the regions which have poor telecom infrastructure.

Some of the main reasons which make the wireless network interface popular include:

i) Convenience as you can use this network interface at home, the office or anywhere else without hassle.
ii) WLANs are available anywhere in the world at an affordable cost.
iii) If you are moving to a new location, you can transfer the interface and install it at your new location easily.
iv) There is no need for an Ethernet cable to connect computers to each other.

For a business, one of the main advantages in setting up a wireless network is savings. You can access the changes in your business in a short period of time after installing the wireless network. There is no need to spend money on cables and other equipments. The cost of maintaining a wireless network is also less when compared to other network interfaces.

Nowadays, you can buy wireless routers at an affordable cost. Also having a wireless network can increase productivity and improve the working environment in your office.

One of the main drawbacks of this network interface is that it may cause health and environmental hazards. Recent researches reported that the constant use of wireless network interfaces may lead to memory loss, poor concentration, premature senility, nausea and even the hazardous disease named cancer. Some environmental hazards that may occur due the constant usage of this interface are also reported. These hazards occur due to electromagnetic radiation coming out of wireless networks.

How to Optimize Your Wireless Network Channel

When you use a wireless network at home, range and performance can be influenced by a lot of factors. The location of your wireless router as well as the location of your PC and/or laptop can make a lot of difference. Concrete walls also have a strong influence on Wi-Fi signals, so too many concrete walls in between the communication devices will reduce the signal strength, and as a result, the performance. But range and obstacles are not the only possible problems with wireless networks. What about your neighbors? If they are using a wireless network, chances are, you are both using the same frequency, which would cause interference and again loss of signal quality. Since wireless internet access is so common these days, it's better to check that too.

Here's How You Can Improve Your Wi-Fi Network! Depending on the location of your equipment, you can try to change the direction of your antennas. If your router has a built-in antenna, consider hanging it on a wall instead of placing it horizontally on a cabinet to change antenna direction. Most routers will come with instructions on best positioning for maximum range. If you want to further optimize the range and performance of your wireless network, you might need to change the frequency of your WiFi communication. There is a dedicated bandwidth for WiFi networks, in which multiple channels are defined. The problem is that many vendors configure their hardware to use a default channel. Typically this is channel 6, since it is the middle of the range (1 to 11 in the US, up to 13 for Europe).

To find out if you need to change your wireless network frequency, you need to know what channel you are using and if the other channels are better. There are many tools available for this, and one of them is called NetStumbler. The current version is 0.4. The program can be installed with the default options. Once you start the application, it will automatically start a scan of the wireless networks in your surroundings. In the results pane, you can see all detected networks grouped by MAC address, SSID or channel. The colored icon in front of the MAC address indicates the signal strength. Using these details, you can first check how many networks are using the same channel as you are. You will need to know your SSID of course (either printed at the bottom of your wireless router, if it came from your ISP, or check the network settings on your computer's wireless card).

Ideally, there should not be (too) many wireless networks on the same channel, but if there are, you want to make sure they have low signal strength. If there are too many wireless networks on the same channel, try changing the channel to improve your wireless network range and performance. This needs to be done in the wireless router or access point. The hardware will come with instructions on how to change the WiFi channel. Your laptop or PC's wireless card will automatically switch to the new channel. If you are using a laptop, you can also use the program to see where your signal strength is best. Move around with the laptop and see which location in your house has the best signal strength. You can use the colored icon as well as the 'signal' columns to assess the network quality. Make sure the network scanning is active to ensure the values are updated while you move around.

Using these Wi-Fi tips, you can easily improve your wireless internet access speed, or solve problems with your wireless internet connection.

How To Create A Wireless Computer Network

While living in a growing age of technology, having at least one computer in the home is just as common as having a refrigerator. Most homes today will have some sort of computer equipment for either personal use or business use. With today's wireless-equipped laptops, a wireless router and, if you need one, a wireless adapter card, even the technically-challenged can create a network in a heartbeat. This discussion isn't about Bluetooth technology, nor does it relate to Macs.

The First StepWorkstations, printers, and laptops need a wireless adapter card installed. They're easy to install--sometimes they're already built in. If so, your equipment will say it's wireless network capable. If not, remove the case from your desktop computer, follow the adapter card's directions, and you'll easily identify the slot the card fits into. On a laptop, the card slot is on one of the outside edges of the keyboard half. The card only fits in one way and installs in two seconds, no problem. Once the adapter is set into its slot, Windows' setup wizard steps you through installing the driver. You'll get the familiar message, "Windows found new hardware." Follow the prompts. The current wireless protocol is 802.11. Wireless cards costs between $20 and $130. They can be found at any computer store or online outlet. The $20 card should be adequate. For a few dollars, weak-kneed users can get a pro to install the card and drivers.

Buying Your Wireless Router Going in search of wireless routers at an office supply megastore, you'll find them from $39 and up. They come with 4 Ethernet ports plus a wireless access point. The Ethernet ports are sockets for setting up a "wired" network, but since you're going wireless, you won't use them. The wireless access point is the sort of radio thing on the router that talks to your computer to make the wireless connection. It doesn't require you to plug anything in. Spending extra money buys more speed between router and computer, but for home use, on a small network, it's not really relevant. Usually, a router that transfers data at 100 megabits per second is fast enough. The package will tell you the speed.

Safeguard Your Stuff By the way, an important fact about wireless routers is that they act as "firewalls." A firewall is software or hardware that prevents hackers from hacking into your system. The router puts an extra layer of security between you and them. Some people claim the protection is negligible but a techie friend of this writer, with every piece of security known to man, tried to hack my network to demonstrate how feeble the router's protection was. He said, "In 10 minutes, I'll have your data." Three hours later, cussing a blue streak, he threw in the towel. Good security.

Wireless - Continued To install the router, rely on manufacturer's directions. All routers are slightly different. For example, you'll plug your basic Netgear router into an electrical outlet, go back to your computer and navigate to Control Panel -- Network Connections. The wireless network connection icon should say you have succeeded and are connected. Your router is now talking to your computer. That's it. Next, choose enable encryption, which is a way to assigning a security key, like a password, to the network's access to keep neighbors or anyone else from using your network. Gurus encourage everyone to do this. It's not difficult to figure out. The manual directs you to type 192.168.0.1 into the address bar of Internet Explorer. Every user manual has a similar IP address (Web address) to an administrative program for each router. It's easy to follow menu selections on the page that comes us next. The help files are generally user-friendly and tech support is available by phone as well.

Hooking Up With your new network set up, you add security cameras, printers, shared storage or anything else that can accept an adapter card or comes with network capability. Each item added -- printer, camera, computer -- needs wireless capability or a card and each shows up on the network with a name you give it - like, "new photo printer" or "Joe's laptop." The best part of the whole set up is that the wireless signal goes through most walls, allowing you to work almost anywhere in your home, sans the yards of black spaghetti that used to connect you. Take your laptop n front of the fireplace. Recliner chair becomes your desk. Sip some hot buttered rum and be the envy of the neighborhood.