== Background ==

One issue with corporate [[wireless network]]s in general, and [[Wireless LAN|WLANs]] in particular, involves the need for [[security]]. Many early [[Wireless access point|access points]] could not discern whether or not a particular user had authorization to access the network. Although this problem reflects issues that have long troubled many types of wired networks (it has been possible in the past for individuals to plug computers into randomly available [[8P8C|Ethernet jack]]s and get access to a local network), this did not usually pose a significant problem, since many organizations had reasonably good physical security. However, the fact that radio signals bleed outside of buildings and across property lines makes physical security largely irrelevant to [[Piggybacking (internet access)|Piggybackers]].

{{Inappropriate tone|date=August 2008}}

Anyone within the geographical network range of an open, unencrypted wireless network can '[[Packet_analyzer|sniff]]' or capture or record the [[Internet_traffic|traffic]], gain unauthorized access to internal network resources as well as to the internet, and then possibly send spam or do other illegal actions using the wireless network's [[IP address]], all of which are now important concerns for home routers and may be significant concerns for office networks.