Multi-Function Gigabit Wireless-N Client Bridge
Version 1.0
8
1.6 Network
Configuration
To better understand how the wireless LAN products work together to create a
wireless network, it might be helpful to depict a few of the possible wireless LAN PC
card network configurations. The wireless LAN products can be configured as:
a) Ad-hoc (or peer-to-peer) for departmental or SOHO LANs.
b) Infrastructure
for
enterprise
LANs.
a) Ad-hoc
(peer-to-peer)
Mode
This is the simplest network
configuration with several
computers equipped with the PC
Cards that form a wireless
network whenever they are
within range of one another. In
ad-hoc mode, each client is
peer-to-peer, would only have
access to the resources of the
other client and does not require
an access point. This is the
easiest and least expensive way
for the SOHO to set up a
wireless network. The image
depicts a network in ad-hoc mode.
b) Infrastructure Mode
The infrastructure mode requires the
use of an access point (AP). In this
mode, all wireless communication
between two computers has to be
via the AP. It doesn’t matter if the
AP is stand-alone or wired to an
Ethernet network. If used in stand-
alone, the AP can extend the range
of independent wireless LANs by
acting as a repeater, which effectively doubles the distance between
wireless stations. The image below depicts a network in infrastructure
mode.
