
Broadband Wireless Router User Guide
- 3 -
3
Chapter 1: Getting to know your Broadband Wireless Router
This chapter describes the
package contents and provides a list of features and
application illustrations of the Broadband Wireless Router.
1-1 About The Broadband Wireless Router
The Broadband Wireless Router
is a hybrid design product which combines Ethernet
technology and wireless access into a single stand-alone unit. The device allows you
take advantages of both mobility and fast connection. All PCs whenever on wireless
LAN or Ethernet LAN can share files, printers and other network resource. Moreover,
all users can share single account of Internet access by having this device connect to a
DSL/Cable modem.
Ethernet / Fast Ethernet
Ethernet
is the most widely-used network access method, especially in a Local Area
Nnetwork (LAN) and is defined by the IEEE as the 802.3 standard. Normally, Ethernet
is a shared media LAN. All stations on the segment share the total bandwidth, which
could be 10Mbps (Ethernet), 100Mbps (Fast Ethernet), or 1000Mbps (Gigabit
Ethernet). With a switched Ethernet, each sender and receiver has the full bandwidth.
Fast Ethernet
is defined as IEEE 802.3u standard, a high-speed version of Ethernet
with 100Mbps transmission rate.
Wireless LAN
Wireless Local Area Network systems (WLANs) transmit and receive data through the
air by using radio frequency (RF). This offers some advantages like mobility, ease of
installation, and scalability over traditional wired systems.
Mobility: WLANs combine data connectivity with user mobility. This
provides users with access to network anywhere in their organization. For
example, users can roam from a conference room to their office without
being disconnected from the LAN. This is impossible with wired networks.
Ease of Installation: Eliminating the need to deploy network cable in walls
and ceilings, Installing WLANs is easy for novice and expert users alike.
Scalability: WLAN topologies are easy to change in various ways from
peer-to-peer networks for a small group of users to full infrastructure
networks for hundreds of users roaming over a broad area.
Wireless LAN is suitable for difficult-to-wire and frequently changing environments.
It’s also an ideal solution for mobile workers to access network resource and for setting
a temporary LAN when necessary
Wireless LANs can be set as “Aad-hoc” network and “Infrastructure” network. Unlike
the “Aad-hoc network”, where users on the LAN send data directly to each other, the
“Infrastructure” network includes an access point and users on the “Infrastructure”
network send data to that dedicated access point. Broadband Wireless Router uses