26
Appendix 2. Planning Your Wireless Network
A2-1 Network Topology
A wireless local area network (WLAN) is exactly like a regular local area network (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 channel and SSID, which is an identification name for wireless
devices.
A2-2 Ad-hoc versus Infrastructure Mode
An ad-hoc wireless LAN is a group of computers, each equipped with one WLAN adapter,
connected as an independent wireless LAN. Computers in a specific ad-hoc wireless LAN must all
be configured to share the same radio channel.
Figure 5-1 Ad-hoc Mode
An integrated wireless and wired LAN is called an Infrastructure configuration. In this mode, a group
of wireless nodes and an Access Point compose a Basic Service Set (BSS). Each wireless node in
a BSS can talk to any computer in the wired LAN infrastructure via the Access Point.
Figure 5-2 Infrastructure Mode
