802.11 PROTOCOL INTELLIGENCE

The 802.11
Protocol Library

Reference, tools, and visualizers for Wi-Fi engineers, from your first beacon frame to Wi-Fi 8 UHR.

Free. No login. No ads. Written by a Wi-Fi engineer with 15 years of 802.11 protocol analysis. Field notes on every page.

Browse the full library → Start: 802.11 crash course
85 reference pages
5 interactive tools
11 animated visualizers
160 quiz questions
8 crash course modules
// find your level
Expert
Protocol deep dives, Wi-Fi 7, security analysis.
4-Way Handshake
Animated EAPOL visualizer
→
DHCP DORA
Discover/Offer/Request/Ack + xid correlation
→
State Machine
802.11 three-state transitions
→
OFDMA RU Allocator
Click-to-allocate Wi-Fi 6 RUs
→
MLO Modes
Wi-Fi 7 MLSR/EMLSR/STR/NSTR
→
TWT Schedule
Wake schedule + mantissa/exp math
→
BSS Color SR
OBSS_PD + constant product rule
→
Preamble Puncturing
80/160/320 MHz bitmap + DFS/OBSS/AFC
→
MU-MIMO Beamforming
Array factor + null steering for SU/MU
→
MLO 4-Way Handshake
Wi-Fi 7 per-link GTK, MLD-level PTK
→
Wi-Fi 7 Track
802.11be MLO, 320 MHz, EHT
→
Wi-Fi 8 UHR
MAPC, DRU, ELR, SMD, WPA3
→
Exchange Timing & SLA
Auth/EAPOL/FT/DHCP WARN+FAIL thresholds
→
CCI vs CCC
Co-channel contention mechanics, CCA, NAV, BSS Color
→
RX-SOP
Receiver Start of Packet, the threshold that decides which frames an AP hears
→
Asymmetric Link Visibility
Why the client view of a link is not the AP view, and where field problems hide
→
The Sniffer Vantage Trap
Why capture RSSI is the sniffer view, not the AP or client view
→
Severity Model
CRITICAL → INFO classification + nDPI mapping
→
Top N Analysis
Weighted ranking - worst clients first
→
// study path
progress saves in your browser, nothing is sent anywhere

Four steps, in order. Read the concepts, test yourself, track which CWNA domains you have covered.

01
802.11 Crash Course
Eight modules from RF fundamentals through Wi-Fi 7. Start here if the spec still looks like noise.
02
CWNA / CWAP Quiz
Test what stuck. Every answer cites the IEEE clause it comes from, so a wrong answer points at what to reread.
03
CWNA-109 Tracker
The exam objectives mapped to pages on this site. See which domains you have covered and which are still blank.
04
Your Progress
Domain coverage, streak, and which visualizers you have completed. Stored locally in your browser.
// interactive tools
MCS Rate Calculator
Select standard, width, streams -- instant data rate with full IEEE spec math
Handshake Visualizer
Watch WPA2/WPA3 EAPOL M1-M4 animate between AP and client in real time
State Machine
Click any state or transition -- frames, failure points, Wireshark filters
Frame Control Decoder
Enter any hex FC value -- decode all 16 bits instantly
Exchange Timing & SLA
Enter a measured timing -- instant PASS/WARN/FAIL against IEEE SLA thresholds
// about this library
SK
Shankar K.
Wi-Fi engineer, 15 years · Irving, TX

I spend most of my free time figuring out how to make 802.11 protocol concepts click. The spec is dense, the failure modes are subtle, and most engineers learn by reading Wireshark output until something makes sense. Everything I work out ends up here as interactive visualizers, reference pages, and frame-level walkthroughs. · ​

// preparing for a wi-fi interview?

71 questions with real spoken engineer answers covering fundamentals through Wi-Fi 7 MLO and PCAP scenario questions. Free PDF, sent on request.

Request the guide →
// field notes -- one email every two weeks
New pages, new PCAPs, Wi-Fi 7 observations
When Frame Lab launches and new reference pages go live, you'll hear first.
No spam. Unsubscribe any time. feedback@wlananalyser.com