What is a WLAN?
Definition
A WLAN, or wireless local area network, is the wireless equivalent of a wired LAN. It is made up of client devices, the access points they connect to and the network infrastructure that links them. In everyday use, WLAN, WiFi and 802.11 all refer to the same family of technology.
WLAN explained
A WLAN covers a single site, like the wired LAN it extends. Access points create it by transmitting and receiving WiFi signals and bridging wireless devices onto the switched network behind them. Standards bodies such as NIST use WLAN when describing how enterprise wireless environments should be configured and monitored.
How a WLAN is controlled is the main design choice. Traditional designs use a hardware Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) that configures lightweight access points and handles roaming centrally. Cloud-managed designs move that control to a cloud dashboard, and controller-less designs spread it across the access points themselves. Each has different effects on scale, cost and compliance.
Two things make a corporate WLAN feel good to use: roaming and visibility. Devices should move between access points without dropping calls, which depends on correct configuration of standards such as 802.11r and 802.11k. And the telemetry the WLAN produces should be collected and used, not left sitting in the controller.
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