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Wireless-G Ethernet Bridge

Instant Wireless

Series

If the wireless network is relatively small and needs to share resources only

with the other computers on the wireless network, then the Ad-Hoc mode can

be used. Ad-Hoc mode allows computers equipped with wireless transmitters

and receivers to communicate directly with each other, eliminating the need for

an access point. The drawback of this mode is that in Ad-Hoc mode, wireless-

equipped computers are not able to communicate with computers on a wired

network. And, of course, communication between the wireless-equipped comput-

ers is limited by the distance and interference directly between them.

Chapter 3: Planning Your Wireless

Network

Network Topology

A wireless local area network (WLAN) is exactly like a regular local area net-

work (LAN), except that each computer in the WLAN uses a wireless device to

connect to the network. Computers in a WLAN share the same frequency chan-

nel and SSID, which is an identification name for wireless devices.

Unlike wired networks, wireless networks have two different modes in which

they may be set up: infrastructure and ad-hoc. An infrastructure configuration

is a WLAN and wired LAN communicating to each other through an access

point. An ad-hoc configuration is wireless-equipped computers communicating

directly with each other. Choosing between these two modes depends on

whether or not the wireless network needs to share data or peripherals with a

wired network or not.

If the computers on the wireless network need to be accessible by a wired net-

work or need to share a peripheral, such as a printer, with the wired network

computers, the wireless network should be set up in Infrastructure mode. The

basis of Infrastructure mode centers around an access point, which serves as the

main point of communications in a wireless network (see Figure 3-1). Access

points transmit data to PCs equipped with wireless network cards, which can

roam within a certain radial range of the access point. Multiple access points

can be arranged to work in succession to extend the roaming range, and can be

set up to communicate with your Ethernet hardware as well.

Network Topology

Ad-Hoc versus Infrastructure Mode

Figure 3-1

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