Chapter 7 Summary
Brittany Ritsick
CIS 145 – SP 24
Summary Chapter 7
25 February 2024
I have personally used both wired and wireless connections before in both home and work settings. I had not previously heard of 1G, but I had assumed it did exist at one point, being that currently the popular wireless networks are 4G and 5G. I previously had knowledge that 4G worked faster than 3G and that 5G worked faster than 4G and so on. I did not get my first smart phone until high school. However, it feels like most kids today have some form of smart device before they even hit their “terrible twos”.
Due to my job, I did have some prior knowledge about wireless LANs as well as Wi-Fi and hotspots. I believe the first time I ever connected to Wi-Fi; I was about 12 using my grandmother’s iPod touch. I don’t remember exactly when I first used a hotspot, but I know that I did not have the best experience with it. I also have heard of access points due to my career as well as range. Before chapter 7 I had not known about Muni Wi-Fi. I had previously heard of a city provided Wi-Fi but did not know it was called Muni Wi-Fi. I had also not previously heard of MiFi. However, when looking at the pictures provided in the chapter, I believe my aunt used to have a similar device when she worked for Verizon.
Wireless mesh networks were our top selling point when I was in residential service. The wireless mesh network I have the most experience or knowledge of would be an Eero device. I also have experience with troubleshooting these mesh networks as well as PANs. I remember when Bluetooth devices first came out, it felt like we were just under the nose of creating flying cars. While I did know about Bluetooth, I did not know about Piconet, probably because I have only needed to connect one device at a time. We did briefly learn about the IOT in previous chapters, it was interesting to learn all the “things” that are within that category. For example, I found it interesting to learn that a garage door opener would be considered a part of the IOTs, because it is likely connected to a Wi-Fi network.
Being that I spent over two years in customer service cross trained as technical support, I do have knowledge of WPAs, passphrases, SSIDs and MAC addresses. The most difficult thing about MAC addresses was getting the customer to locate them on the device, no matter how clearly you explained it. I had not known about wardriving previously, but I have been piggybacked off before. My older downstairs neighbor had got my Wi-Fi password, but I decided to continue to let him continue to use it because it would be easier than helping him set up his own network.
Troubleshooting also gave me experience with changing the default network settings. I was interested to learn about all the types of attacks that hackers use. I had not previously known of any of the terminology of evil twin attacks, sniffer programs or man-in-the-middle attacks. I also found it intriguing to learn about bluejacking, bluesnarfing and bluebugging. Now that I am aware of these types of Bluetooth hacks, I will be sure to put my devices into undiscoverable mode and turn off auto connect.