Introducing Organizations and Certification


Two primary organizations develop or promote wireless standards. The first, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an international, technical, and professional organization that exists to define and promote standards among engineers.

The second organization, the Wi-Fi Alliance, is a nonprofit industry organization with more than 200 member companies that certify wireless product compliance to the 802.11x standards. Where the IEEE exists to develop standards, the mission of the Wi-Fi Alliance is to promote these standards to the public through product testing and certification.

Meeting the Wi-Fi Alliance

Through its certification programs, the Wi-Fi Alliance encourages manufacturers to comply with 802.11x standards when designing wireless devices. The Wi-Fi Alliance ensures that devices are 802.11x compliant by having them independently tested. The Wi-Fi Alliance also conducts tests to ensure interoperability among Wi-Fi-certified products.

You can be sure that a network component will interoperate with other devices that use a compatible standard if it carries the Wi-Fi certified logo. This allows you to use devices from different manufacturers with confidence that they will work together.

Introducing the IEEE

The IEEE (sometimes pronounced “eye-triple-ee”) uses consensus-based working groups to develop standards. Manufacturers use IEEE standards as blueprints for developing compatible products, solutions, or processes. IEEE standards give us the opportunity to choose among different vendors for compatible wireless equipment. Without the IEEE as a standards body, manufacturers would develop multiple incompatible standards, instead of adhering to common ones.

Note 

Many manufacturers still define their own standards rather than support and promote common ones. Usually this is an attempt to monopolize a specific market area and lock in a customer base dependent on their products and support.

Avoid proprietary technologies when possible; they are usually more expensive and you’ll be at the mercy of a single manufacturer, which could be especially bad if it later abandons its own standard.




Caution. Wireless Networking. Preventing a Data Disaster
Caution! Wireless Networking: Preventing a Data Disaster
ISBN: 076457213X
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 145

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