Conventional Wireless LANs

Wireless communication between multiple computers requires that each computer be equipped with a receiver/transmitter—a WLAN Network Interface Card (NIC)—capable of exchanging digital information over a common radio frequency. This is called an ad hoc network configuration. An ad hoc network configuration allows wireless devices to communicate together. This setup is defined as an independent basic service set (IBSS).

An alternative to the ad hoc configuration is the use of an access point. This may be a dedicated hardware bridge or a computer running special software. Computers and other wireless devices communicate with each other through this access point. The 802.11 standard defines access point communications as devices that allow wireless devices to communicate with a distribution system. This setup is defined as a basic service set (BSS) or infrastructure network.

To allow the wireless devices to communicate with computers on a wired network, the access points must be connected to the wired network providing access to the networked computers. This topology is called bridging. With bridging, security and management scalability is often a concern.

The wireless devices and the wired networks communicate with each other using standard networking protocols and addressing schemes. Most commonly, Internet Protocol (IP) addressing is used.