NETGEAR MA111 - Manual (Page 47)

Wireless Networking Basics B-1
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Appendix B
Wireless Networking Basics
This chapter provides an overview of Wireless networking.
Wireless Networking Overview
The MA111 Wireless USB Adapter conforms to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers (IEEE) 802.11b standard for wireless LANs (WLANs). On an 802.11b wireless link,
data is encoded using direct-sequence spread-spectrum (DSSS) technology and is transmitted in
the unlicensed radio spectrum at 2.4GHz. The maximum data rate for the wireless link is 11 Mbps,
but it will automatically back down from 11 Mbps to 5.5, 2, and 1 Mbps when the radio signal is
weak or when interference is detected. The 802.11b auto rate sensing rates are 1, 2, 5.5, and 11
Mbps.
The 802.11 standard is also called Wireless Ethernet or Wi-Fi by the Wireless Ethernet
Compatibility Alliance (WECA, see
http://www.wi-fi.net ), an industry standard group promoting
interoperability among 802.11 devices. The 802.11 standard offers two methods for configuring a
wireless network - ad-hoc and infrastructure.
Infrastructure Mode
With a wireless Access Point, you can operate the wireless LAN in the infrastructure mode. This
mode provides wireless connectivity to multiple wireless network devices within a fixed range or
area of coverage, interacting with wireless nodes via an antenna.
In the infrastructure mode, the wireless access point converts airwave data into wired Ethernet
data, acting as a bridge between the wired LAN and wireless clients. Connecting multiple Access
Points via a wired Ethernet backbone can further extend the wireless network coverage. As a
mobile computing device moves out of the range of one access point, it moves into the range of
another. As a result, wireless clients can freely roam from one Access Point domain to another and
still maintain seamless network connection.