Step 5 solve the WLAN Test

We should have some knowledge about all aspects of wireless WLAN. The standards for wireless WLAN testing may be unclear to everyone. This article will list five steps for you to test the wireless WLAN.

Wireless WLAN Test 1. Channel Test

Different from wiring tests, signal strength, noise intensity, and signal-to-noise ratio are the most important indicators in channel tests. The wireless transmission mode is microwave transmission, and the signal strength test is to verify the signal attenuation, the intensity of microwave attenuation is related to factors such as distance, obstacle shielding, and AP transmit power. The signal strength plays a decisive role in the connection of sites over the Internet in WLAN. As WLAN 802.11 uses public channels, other communication or industrial devices, such as microwave ovens, mobile phones, and 2.4G/5.8G microwave transmission facilities, may cause noise to the WLAN, it causes great interference to WLAN transmission.

Wireless WLAN Test 2. WLAN Network Performance Test

Similar to wired network tests, network performance tests are classified into basic tests and operation monitoring. basic tests include AP throughput testing, Ping, site and AP list analysis, the tester evaluated the basic running conditions of WLAN through these tests. On the basis of basic tests, the operation monitoring module adds comprehensive real-time AP site performance analysis, real-time traffic analysis, SSID grouping analysis, and classification and composition of various packets and signal frames transmitted over 802.11 networks. real-time network utilization and throughput, and the transmission rate of any node, these parameters reflect the current working status of the WLAN.

Wireless WLAN Test 3. Protocol Analysis

For WLAN, because it has many special frame formats in terms of protocol, real-time packet capture decoding is an indispensable method in WLAN testing. Because our protocol analysis is aimed at network maintenance management, we only need to understand the next three layers in the decoding process. The next three layers contain basic information about Maintenance and Management of almost all networks, of course, if there are conditions for full-layer decoding, there is no harm.

Wireless WLAN Test 4. Fault Diagnosis

This is an essential application in network operation and maintenance, WLAN fault diagnosis is based on comprehensive analysis of the channel test, network performance analysis, packet capture decoding, and other test results. WLAN fault diagnosis is divided into two parts: First, network performance fault diagnosis (network performance evaluation), including connectivity fault, low-speed transmission, and weak AP signal; second, network security Fault Diagnosis (Network Security Evaluation), which is a unique issue of WLAN networks. Due to the characteristics of microwave transmission, in a certain space, microwave signals can be received by all signal receiving devices in this space. Therefore, IEEE constantly introduces security protocols for WLAN, from the initial WEP, LEAP, MIC, TKIP, and 802.1X security protocols to the latest WPA, we can say that the security factor of WLAN is getting higher and higher.

However, most of the current security problems are caused by users' initial settings. Most enterprise users do not even open the most basic security mode WEP, just as your door does not have a lock, anyone can access your network at will, and the network is very insecure. Discovering existing security vulnerabilities is the most basic requirement for WLAN security testing. For enterprise networks, simply enabling WEP is far from enough. WEP is a static key. For a well-trained hacker, only two small software is needed to attack WEP networks. Therefore, an authentication problem is raised. How to authenticate whether a device is a normal device in the network or a device that is illegally intruded into the device, no matter what means illegal intruders use to intrude into the device, network security is an insecure factor. It is also a very important requirement for WLAN security testing to discover and quickly locate illegal intrusion devices.

Wireless WLAN Test 5. maintenance problems in WLAN applications

Comprehensive management documents make network operation and maintenance easier. In addition to the detailed status list of each Wireless Access Point and site, management documents must also include the test report in the document, both basic network security and performance analysis and real-time report order archiving are required. This forms a long-term dynamic network analysis document for the entire network, it provides a convenient way for further network upgrade and maintenance.

With the continuous development of wireless LAN technology, the launch and commercialization of 802.11a and 802.11g standards bring new business opportunities to the development of wireless networks, as China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Netcom have successively invested in the construction of WLAN broadband access hotspots, WLAN has become synonymous with mobile commerce and mobile Internet access, and major universities are competing to build WLAN, to meet the increasing Internet access needs of students and faculty and staff, large enterprises also use WLAN as the development direction for the next network construction, the requirements for multi-frequency testing and distributed testing are also mentioned on the agenda. Distributed testing and supporting 802.11a/B/g multi-frequency testing have become the preferred solution for WLAN testing.