User Manual

Table Of Contents

—Introduction

• Ease of Installation: Installing is easy for novice and ex-

pert users alike, eliminating the need to install network

cables in walls and ceilings.

• Scalability: WLANs can be configured in a variety of to-

pologies to adapt to specific applications and installations.

Configurations are easily changed and range from peer-to-

peer networks suitable for a small number of users to full

infrastructure networks of thousands of users roaming over

a broad area.

LAN Modes

Wireless LANs can be configured in one of two ways:

Ad-hoc

Networking

Also known as a peer-to-peer network, an ad-hoc net-

work is one that allows all workstations and computers

in the network to act as servers to all other users on the

network. Users on the network can share files, print to

a shared printer, and access the Internet with a shared

modem. However, with ad-hoc networking, users can

only communicate with other wireless LAN computers

that are in the wireless LAN workgroup, and are within

range.

Infrastructure

Networking

Infrastructure networking differs from ad-hoc network-

ing in that it includes an access point. Unlike the ad-

hoc structure where users on the LAN contend the

shared bandwidth, on an infrastructure network the

access point can manage the bandwidth to maximize

bandwidth utilization.

Additionally, the access point enables users on a wire-

less LAN to access an existing wired network, allowing

wireless users to take advantage of the wired networks

resources, such as Internet, email, file transfer, and

printer sharing.

Infrastructure networking has the following advantages

over ad-hoc networking:

•

Extended ran

e: each wireless LAN com

ute