In social life, we have a host of opportunities to taste various traditional foods while we mix with people from other race groups. A wide variety of spices may impart an Indian flavor to the Chinese dishes. Thus, the Chinese people may enjoy delicious foods besides Chinese cuisine.

While different races of people live in a multilingual community, they inevitably have the chance to learn other languages besides their mother tongue. Fluency in other languages is conducive to one’s career and also will help one to know different cultures in depth.

Cultivating a moral education is an approach to maintain ethnic harmony. People from diverse backgrounds come to know each other and learn from each other. “Among any three people, there must be one who can be my teacher.” (The Confucian Analects) From this quotation by Confucious, we explicitly know that despite diverse cultures or backgrounds, people should learn to inculcate values such as modesty towards other tribal groups.

Gift giving is a courteous behavior and common custom in every culture irrespective of age, race, creed or color, and also one of the decent ways to express concern, gratitude and appreciation. However, we must take into account that what kind of gift to give will not cause a misunderstanding. As for instance, buying a clock as a present for any Chinese friends is taboo in Chinese culture. The word “clock” has similar sound with the “end” in Chinese Mandarin, giving a clock as a gift sounds like being a gift at the bedside when a Chinese person takes his last breath.

Certain colors such as white and black are considered inauspicious. The white and black color tend to be equated to that of mourning or death while the red color is considered a very auspicious color for new year festivals, weddings and other happy occasions. Wearing a black shirt or skirt to attend a Chinese wedding ceremony will be regarded as an impoliteness and will make the host feels uncomfortable. These auspiciousness and inauspiciousness are identically carrying the same weight in Indian tradition. Therefore, we must be extremely discreet when attending other culture occasions, try to dress up decently.

Because of the feudalistic thoughts which have been passed down by the ancestors over the centuries, the Chinese people generally do not like the number “four”, as it sounds like “death” in Mandarin and some Chinese dialects such as Cantonese and Hokkien. However, there is no such taboo in Malays’ culture. The Malays prefer to have repeated “four” for their vehicle number plates while the Chinese refrain to deal with the number “four” due to the immense influence of ancestors.

All ethnic Malays are Muslim in our country. According to the tenets of the Islamic faith, dog is fall under “Najis Berat” in the religion of Islam, which falls in the same category as pig. As we know that Muslims are not allowed to touch, eat, and keep pig. This applies the same to the dog. Muslims cannot adopt dogs as pets unless it is for guarding purpose. In addition, the dog must guard outside the house and not remain inside. The majority of Chinese people treat dogs as pets, and even as friends. The Chinese can groom their pets without any constraint; they can even touch dogs’ saliva, but this kind of action is severely prohibited in the world of Islam.

One of the significant differences between nonverbal practices in both Malay’s and Chinese’s culture is the way of greeting people. Malay women shake hands with men is forbidden, and vice versa. But Malay women may shake hands with members of the same sex. However, the handshake is also the way of greeting in Chinese social context. But Chinese men and women may shake hands with each other, provided the Chinese woman extends her hand first. While many older Chinese will lower their eyes during the handshake as a sign of respect, the Malays may place the hand on their heart after shaking hand with others to show their respects.

According to Islamic custom, in the occasion of funeral, the Malays should not show their grief in public. Instead, the funeral should be solemnly held and the dead should be buried as soon as possible. On the contrary, due to the influence of Confucian virtue the members of Chinese younger generation are urged to cry out loudly and sorrowfully during the burial ritual, for the sake of manifesting their filial pieties.  Usually, a funeral of Chinese will be held at least three days, the number of days implies the value of dignity the deceased had.

To understand the wireless requirements

In order to identify appropriate locations for deployment of access points (APs), we need to thoroughly understand specific requirements for the network and any possible impacts to the signal coverage. By knowing the target throughput and data rates, we are able to correctly interpret the results of site survey. And also, some devices of users may have lower transmitting power, so we must take this into consideration.

To obtain detailed diagram

Locate a set of building blueprints of the site; prepare a drawing that depicts the actual location of walls, windows, furniture and interior spaces. The detailed diagram helps us to identify any potential obstacles or impediments in the area to be served.

Visual inspection of site

By walking through the site before performing any testing to verify the accuracy of the detailed diagram, we are able to identify any potential attenuation barriers that may obstruct and degrade the propagation of RF signals.

Assessment of existing network infrastructure

Verifying the capacity of the existing wired networks that can interface the access points and check on how much of the existing networks can be made available for supporting the wireless network.

To identify the coverage areas

Indicating all areas where signal coverage is needed by marking on the detailed diagram, and also, identifying the areas where wireless coverage is not required is also important for site survey as we can avoid wasting time on surveying. In addition to time saving, we can also reduce the number of access points and lower the costs of equipment.

To determine locations for preliminary access point

To determine the preliminary access point locations, we need to consider the wireless network equipments products we are using, and analyze the locations of access points that will provide adequate coverage throughout the areas. And plan for some overlap of propagation among adjacent access points, also assign the channel for access points to be far enough from each others to avoid inter-access point interferences. The mounting locations also need to be considered as it could be vertical posts or metal supports above ceiling tiles. Identify appropriate locations for installing the access point and data cable. Various types of antennas will be taken into consideration when the positions of access points are determined.

Verification of access point locations

When the site survey testing is ready to begin, we can utilize good wireless network surveying software to assess the signals on the site. This kind of software can help us to pick up the signals, trace and evaluate various parameters such as:

• Strength of signal
• Signals at channel
• Presence of access points
• Signal-to-noise ratio
• Potential interference
• Best location to place access points

Next, when an access point is installed at each preliminary location, we will have to walk by varying distances away from the access point in order to obtain the readings from the site survey tool. This procedure is just to ping the access point or obtain the beacon signal strength, therefore connecting the access point to the distribution system is not necessarily need.

Documenting

Once all the locations of access points that capable of providing adequate signal coverage is confirmed, we will document our findings on the detailed diagrams by marking the location of each access point as this information is needed by the installer later.

Dual-band access points are not only providing increased bandwidth, but it is also fairly using dual-band radios to segregate data types onto the different RF bands. The 5 GHz radio can serve wireless traffic from time-sensitive voice/data clients while the 2.4 GHz radio supports data traffic from laptops. This helps to reduce data and voice traffic contention by creating two separate RF networks.

Since both 802.11a and 802.11n are able to use a different RF band, it is not affected by interference from the possible pervasive 802.11b or 802.11g wireless networks, and is better insulated from overhead activity, such as probes or responses from clients generated by internal and external 802.11b or 802.11g wireless networks.

Standalone architecture (Ad hoc mode)

By using ad hoc mode, all devices in the wireless network are directly communicating with each other in peer to peer communication mode. No access point (routers/switches) is required for communication between devices.

For setting up ad hoc mode, we need to manually configure the wireless adaptors of all devices to be at ad hoc mode instead of infrastructure mode, and all adaptors must use the same channel name and same SSID for making the connection active.

Ad hoc mode is most suitable for small group of devices and all of these devices must be physically present in close proximity with each other. The performance of network suffers while the number of devices grows. Disconnections of random device may occur frequently and also, ad hoc mode can be a tough job for network administrator to manage the network. Ad hoc mode has another limitation is that, ad hoc mode networks cannot bridge to wired local area network and also cannot access internet if without the installation of special gateways.

However, Ad hoc mode works fine in small environment. Because ad hoc mode does not need any extra access point (routers/switches), therefore it reduces the cost. Ad hoc can be very useful as a backup option for time being if network based on centrally coordinated wireless network (infrastructure mode) and access points are malfunctioning.

An ad hoc mode uses the integrated functionality of each adaptor to enable wireless services and security authentication. The characteristics of an Ad hoc wireless network are listed as below:

• All access points in the network operate independently and has own configuration file.
• Access point is responsible for the encryption and decryption.
• The network configuration is static and does not respond to changing network conditions.

Centrally Coordinated Architecture (Infrastructure mode)

The other architecture in wireless network is centrally coordinated (infrastructure mode). All devices are connected to wireless network with the help of Access Point (AP). Wireless APs are usually routers or switches which are connected to internet by broadband modem.

Infrastructure mode deployments are more suitable for larger organizations or facility. This kind of deployment helps to simplify network management, and allows the facility to address operational concerns. And resiliency is also assured while more users can get connected to the network subsequently.

The infrastructure mode provides improved security, ease of management, and much more scalability and stability. However, the infrastructure mode incurs extra cost in deploying access points such as routers or switches.

An infrastructure mode wireless network has the characteristics as below:

• The wireless centralized controller coordinates the activity of access point.
• The controller is able to monitor and control the wireless network by automatically reconfiguring the access point parameters in order to maintain the health of the network.
• The wireless network can be easily expanded or reduced by adding or removing access points and the network can be reconfigured by the controller based on the changes in RF footprint.
• Tasks such as user authentication, fault tolerance, control of configuration, policy enforcement and expansion of network are done by the wireless network controller.
• Redundant access points can be deployed in separate locations to maintain control in the event of an access point or switch failure.

The first standard was created by IEEE in 1997 and had been named as 802.11. It uses unregulated radio signaling frequency (2.4 GHz) but only supported up to 2 Mbps maximum network bandwidth. Specific physical layers that enabled three faster radio layers had been defined by subsequent amendments of IEEE 802.11:

802.11b

802.11b was created based on the specification of original 802.11 in July 1999, and it support network bandwidth up to 11 Mbps.

802.11b uses unregulated radio signaling frequency (2.4 GHz) as same as the original 802.11 standard. It provides 3 radio channels. By using this frequency, the manufacturing costs could be lower down. Because of unregulated signal, 802.11b could incur interference from other appliances using the same 2.4 GHz range, such as microwave ovens, cordless phones. However, the interferences can be avoided by installing 802.11b a reasonable distance from other appliances.

• Pros of 802.11b – cost is cheapest; signal range is very good and not easily to be obstructed.
• Cons of 802.11b – maximum speed is still slower; home appliances may interfere on the unregulated frequency band.

802.11a

A second extension to the original 802.11 standard was created and called 802.11a. Due to its higher cost, 802.11a is usually found on business networks whereas 802.11b better serves the home market.

802.11a supports up to 54 Mbps network bandwidth and provides 8 radio channels in the 5 GHz frequency band. Because of this higher frequency, the range of 802.11a networks is also shortened. In addition, the higher frequency also makes the signal of 802.11a to have more difficulty in penetrating walls and other obstacles.

• Pros of 802.11a – faster maximum speed; regulated frequencies can get rid of signal interference from other home appliances.
• Cons of 802.11a – expensive in cost; shorter range signal and more easily to be obstructed.

802.11g

802.11g was created to combine the best of both 802.11a and 802.11b and supports network bandwidth up to 54 Mbps. It uses the 2.4 GHz frequency for wider range. 802.11g is backwards compatible with 802.11b, which means the access point of 802.11g will just work fine with all the wireless network adapters of 802.11b, and vice versa.

• Pros of 802.11g – fast maximum speed; signal range is very good and not easily to be obstructed.
• Cons of 802.11g – cost is higher than 802.11b; other appliances may interfere on the unregulated.

802.11n

802.11n is the newest IEEE standard in the 802.11 family. It improves on 802.11g in the amount of bandwidth by using multiple wireless signals and antennas instead of one. This is a technology called MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output). It will also operate on the 2.4 GHz band. Presently the development of this standard is still in progress. But when this standard is finalized, 802.11n connections will be able to support data rates up to 100 Mbps. 802.11n also offers better range over earlier 802.11 standards due to its increased signal intensity.

• Pros of 802.11g –best signal range and fastest in maximum speed; more ability to resist signal interference from other sources.
• Cons of 802.11g –cost is higher than 802.11g; the use of multiple signals may massively be interfered by nearby 802.11b or 802.11g based networks.

The following are the benefits of a Service Level Agreement (SLA):

• Establishes two-way accountability for a delivered service.
• Creates levels of service that are negotiated and standardized.
• Enables customer to be able to control the cost if justification of service provider in spending is clear.
• Makes the terms and conditions clear in case of discrepancies between both customer and service provider.
• Clearly clarifies the business goals to be achieved by customer, and management and planning of business will become easier and more feasible if the goals and objectives are clearly defined.
• Enables the performance of delivered services to be more realistic to customer in expectation.

When one makes a phone call, circuit switching comes into play. This involves passing analog-converted audio signals from one switch to another until it reaches the recipient. Answering a call is the final step to opening the circuit of communication.

VoIP communication does not use circuit switching. It instead relies on the switching of packets. Audio is converted to packets of digital information. These carry additional information on message destination. Packets can then be sent through many different paths to reach the recipient. The nearest available path is taken. Once the packets reach their destination, they are converted back to audio data.

VoIP communication can be an attractive alternative to a lot of people. This is mainly because it is often cheaper than telephone communication. Circuit switching which is used for telephones can be expensive. Aside from cost savings, VoIP communication is also often more accessible. Not every part of the world has a telephone. VoIP however can be used wherever there is an internet connection. These days, the internet can be accessed even in remote areas through satellite technology.