It seems that Wi-Fi networks have been misunderstood by much of the IT community since their inception. Even the reasons for this misunderstanding are kind of hard to understand. It could be that the rising popularity of Wi-Fi caused demand to surge ahead of the supply of professionals ready to manage networks. Maybe it’s that networking folks and radio frequency folks both had to learn the other side’s technology on a fairly intimate level. Maybe it’s just that engineers cooped up in an RF chamber all day have a hard time explaining themselves. Whatever the reason, the result has been that myths about 802.11 (better known as Wi-Fi) networks have grown almost as fast as the technology itself.

Being wireless networking instructors allows us a unique perspective in sampling the Wi-Fi myths that are believed by a wide variety of IT professionals. In this paper examine 11 such myths and explore ways to use correct information about wireless LANs to make your networks scalable, secure and satisfying to your users.