Chapter 7 Wireless
EX5501-B0 / AX7501-B0 / PX7501-B0 User’s Guide
112
• A wireless client is a radio connected to a user’s computer.
• An access point is a radio with a wired connection to a network, which can connect with numerous
wireless clients and let them access the network.
• A bridge is a radio that relays communications between access points and wireless clients, extending
a network’s range.
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 65
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 Zyxel 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.
