Performance Analysis of IEEE 802.11 Wireless LANs

IEEE 802.11 Wireless Networks have gained popularity, providing users mobility andflexibility in accessing information. Existing solutions for wireless LAN networks have beenexposed to security vulnerabilities. Previous study has evaluated the security performance ofIEEE 802.11 wireless networks using single server-client architecture. The research presented in this book investigates the effect of multiple security mechanisms on the performance of multi-clientcongested and un-congested networks. The effect of different TCP and UDP packet sizes onperformance of secure networks was also studied. The results showed that WEP encryptionsignificantly degrades the performance of congested wireless networks. Network performancedegradation increased as the number of clients was increased under all security mechanisms.