Purpose and Characteristics of Different Wireless Systems, Antennas, Devices

Purpose

A wireless access point (WAP) is a network device that acts as an intermediary between the wireless local area network (WLAN) and a wired network for data transmission. Wi-Fi enabled devices connect to WAP to access the internet. In a home or a small business, a router has an in-built WAP that can support a small number of devices. In large venues and businesses, multiple WAPs are deployed on different floors to give great Wi-Fi coverage indoors and outdoors where one WAP can cover up to 300 metres, compensating for the fact that Wi-Fi radio waves cannot go through walls like twisting tunnels.

Characteristics

A WAP is able to extend the wireless coverage of a LAN by connecting a router or a switch with a power over Ethernet (POE). The POE powers the WAP and allows data transmission between the switch and the WAP. WAP has a load balancing feature so if one WAP is overwhelmed with devices, another WAP can absorb the traffic. It can also communicate with 2.4GHz devices such as baby monitors, security cameras and garage door openers; and 5GHz devices such as laptops, smart TVs and smartphones. An effective, modern WAP should have a Wi-Fi standard of at least 802.11ac which is Wi-Fi 5 to achieve high data throughput or speed; to have the ability to switch between 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands for optimal network performance; and to support multiple devices, dynamic web applications, and the Internet of Things.

Purpose

Bluetooth is used for short-range wireless voice and data communication using radio waves. It enables wireless personal area network (WPAN) devices to communicate, such as a smartphone sending data to a paired device like a headphone to play music over a small distance. Bluetooth data can travel up to 50 metres.

Characteristics

Bluetooth can transmit data at 3 Mbps which is considered slow. It is wireless and low cost and can penetrate walls. There are two types of Bluetooth networks: piconet and scatternet.

In piconet, the primary or master node can be paired with 7 active secondary nodes or slave nodes that are within 50 metres, forming a one-to-one or one-to-many relationship. There can be 255 parked nodes which are secondary nodes that are not actively participating in the network until they are activated.

In scatternet, a slave node from one piconet becomes a master of another piconet. This slave node is known as a bridge node, acting as a connector between two piconets.