Operation Manual
NoteMaximum
Transmission
Rate (Mbit/s)
Band (GHz)Name
Less common112.4802.11b
Widespread, backwards-
compatible with 11b
542.4802.11g
Common3002.4 and/or 5802.11n
802.11 Legacy cards are not supported by openSUSE®. Most cards using 802.11a,
802.11b, 802.11g and 802.11n are supported. New cards usually comply with the
802.11n standard, but cards using 802.11g are still available.
32.2 Operating Modes
In wireless networking, various techniques and congurations are used to ensure fast,
high-quality, and secure connections. Different operating types suit different setups. It
can be difcult to choose the right authentication method. The available encryption
methods have different advantages and pitfalls.
Basically, wireless networks can be classied into three network modes:
Managed Mode (Infrastructure Mode), via Access Point
Managed networks have a managing element: the access point. In this mode (also
referred to as infrastructure mode), all connections of the WLAN stations in the
network run through the access point, which may also serve as a connection to an
ethernet.
Ad-hoc Mode (Peer-to-Peer Network)
Ad-hoc networks do not have an access point. The stations communicate directly
with each other, therefore an ad-hoc network is usually faster than a managed net-
work. However, the transmission range and number of participating stations are
greatly limited in ad-hoc networks. They also do not support WPA authentication.
Therefore, an access point is usually used. It is even possible to use a WLAN card
as an access point. Some cards support this functionality.
516 Reference