Vendor neutral hands-on labs using open-source products for wireless networks courses

In this paper, an undergraduate computer information technology special topic course in mobile and wireless networks is presented which is developed based on many hands-on lab activities. In learning the concepts of wireless networks via hands-on labs, students get ample opportunities to understand the underlying principles and concepts of wireless networks. These hands-on labs are chosen to provide sufficient challenges to the students that prepare the engineers and technologists for the next generation solutions. The level of difficulty for this course requires the prerequisites of networking course. The course requires the students to collaborate among them and participate in active learning based modules. This paper elaborates innovative projects that are suitable for laboratory work in computer information technology curriculum. It explores both hardware and software components that are now being used for practical exercises in wireless networks courses. This paper discusses the hands-on labs for wireless networks such as Medium Access Control layer settings, upgrading the firmware of wireless devices, etc. In addition, this paper also illustrates the wireless security labs which discuss how to set up Wi-Fi Protected Access on Cisco and Linksys wireless access points (AP).