Belkin F5D6130 User Manual - Page 24

Wireless Networking Using 802.11b To form a wireless network, two basic components are used. The first is a wireless adapter for a PC. This can be either a USB wireless adapter or a PCMCIA adapter. The adapter gives the PC wireless Ethernet capabilities. The second is a WAP. A WAP can connect to a wired LAN and allow the wireless PCs to be able to access the wired LAN. A WAP can be a standalone component or it can be embedded into a cable/DSL router, thus forming a wireless Gateway/Router. The uses of each of these types of products is outlined later in this article. Wireless networking is not very different from wired networking. There are only a few basic concepts one must grasp. There are two different ways to network computers using 802.11b. The first, and least used method, is the Ad-Hoc method, also known as Peer-to-Peer. The more commonly used method is called Infrastructure. Ad-Hoc (Peer-to-Peer) Ad-Hoc, or Peer-to-Peer, refers to a configuration where each computer in the wireless network communicates directly with another. An Ad-Hoc wireless LAN consists of a group of computers, each equipped with a wireless adapter, connected directly via radio signals to form an independent wireless LAN. Computers in a specific Ad-Hoc wireless LAN must be configured to the same radio channel to communicate with one another. More than one Ad-Hoc network can exist in the same space if it is configured to operate on a different channel. There are a varying number of channels depending on the part of the world you are operating in. The US has 11 channels, Europe has 13 channels, and Japan has 14 channels. The following diagram shows a typical Ad-Hoc wireless LAN configuration. Notebook Wireless Notebook Network Card Notebook with Wireless Notebook Network Card PC with Wireless Desktop PCI Network Adapter 22