Chapter 6 Wireless
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Traditionally, a wireless network operates in one of two ways.
• An “infrastructure” type of network has one or more access points and one or more wireless
clients. The wireless clients connect to the access points.
• An “ad-hoc” type of network is one in which there is no access point. Wireless clients connect to
one another in order to exchange information.
The following figure provides an example of a wireless network.
Figure 25
Example of a Wireless Network
The wireless network is the part in the blue circle. In this wireless network, devices
A
and
B
use the
access point (
AP
) to interact with the other devices (such as the printer) or with the Internet. Your
Device is the AP.
Every wireless network must follow these basic guidelines.
• Every device in the same wireless network must use the same SSID.
The SSID is the name of the wireless network. It stands for Service Set IDentifier.
• If two wireless networks overlap, they should use a different channel.
Like radio stations or television channels, each wireless network uses a specific channel, or
frequency, to send and receive information.
• Every device in the same wireless network must use security compatible with the AP.
