Planning Your Network
Infrastructure Network Types
An Infrastructure network is formed by several stations and one or more Access
Points (APs), with the stations within a set distance from the AP.
Figure 1
depicts
a typical Infrastructure network topology.
There are three infrastructure network setups that are commonly used. It is a good
idea to understand the possible network setups and configuration requirements
before planning your wireless network.
Type 1.
The simplest wireless infrastructure network is composed of one
Access Point (AP) and a few wireless Stations communicating via
radio waves (
Figure 1
). This setup enables mobile stations to
communicate with each other. The main benefit of this type of
network is to extend the range of the network. If an AP is placed
between Station-1 and Station-2, the radio transmission distance is
effectively doubled since Station-1 can talk to Station-2 through the
AP. The drawback of this configuration is that the effective
bandwidth is halved since all communication is relayed by the AP.
Figure 1. Simple Wireless Infrastructure Network
Type 2.
The next simplest wireless network is very similar to the Type 1
network. This time the AP is connected to a wired Ethernet network
as a node. In this configuration the AP is effectively performing as a
bridge between the wired Ethernet and the wireless networks (
Figure
2
).
Wireless users have the same access to the network resources as they
would have if they were wired. This type of network is usually used
to extend an existing network into a difficult to wire or a roaming
environment.
4
Instant
Wave
High Rate
Access Point
