Appendix B About Wireless Lans; Modes; Bss/Ess - LevelOne NetCon WBR-3408 User Manual

Appendix B
About Wireless LANs
This Appendix provides some background information about using
Wireless LANs (WLANs).

Modes

Wireless LANs can work in either of two (2) modes:

Ad-hoc

Infrastructure
Ad-hoc Mode
Ad-hoc mode does not require an Access Point or a wired (Ethernet) LAN.
Wireless Stations (e.g. notebook PCs with wireless cards) communicate directly
with each other.
Infrastructure Mode
In Infrastructure Mode, one or more Access Points are used to connect Wire-
less Stations (e.g. Notebook PCs with wireless cards) to a wired (Ethernet) LAN.
The Wireless Stations can then access all LAN resources.
Access Points can only function in "Infrastructure" mode,
and can communicate only with Wireless Stations which are
set to "Infrastructure" mode.

BSS/ESS

BSS
A group of Wireless Stations and a single Access Point, all using the same ID
(SSID), form a Basic Service Set (BSS).
Using the same SSID is essential. Devices with different SSIDs are unable to
communicate with each other.
ESS
A group of Wireless Stations, and multiple Access Points, all using the same ID
(ESSID), form an Extended Service Set (ESS).
Different Access Points within an ESS can use different Channels. In fact, to re-
duce interference, it is recommended that adjacent Access Points SHOULD use
different channels.
As Wireless Stations are physically moved through the area covered by an ESS,
they will automatically change to the Access Point which has the least interference
or best performance. This capability is called Roaming. (Access Points do not have
or require Roaming capabilities.)
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