SMC Networks SMCWAA-B - Manual (Page 42)

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PCMCIA slot or that are self contained on PC cards, while stand-
alone desktops and servers use plug-in cards (ISA, PCI, etc.).
• What is Ad-hoc?
o
An AD-HOC network is a peer-to-peer network where all the nodes
are wireless clients. As an example, two PC’s with wireless adapters
can communicate with each other as long as they are within range.
A wireless extension point can extend the range of an AD-HOC
network.
• What is the 802.11 standard?
o
A family of IEEE standards for wireless LANs first introduced in
1997. 802.11 provides 1 or 2 Mbps transmission in the 2.4GHz
band using either a frequency hopping modulation (FHSS)
technique or direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS), which is
also known as CDMA. The 802.11b standard defines an 11 Mbps
data rate in the 2.4GHz band, and the 802.11a standard defines 54
Mbps in the 5GHz band.
• What is Infrastructure?
o
In order for your wireless components to interact with traditional
wired networks they need a media bridge to translate for them.
This is where INFRASTRUCTURE or Network mode comes into play.
An ACCESS POINT is attached to the network using CAT-5 Ethernet
cable attaching to a hub, switch or another PC. Wireless PC’s can
then communicate to Wired Ethernet computers through this
access point. The total range of the network is limited to a radius
around this Access Point. To increase the range, extra Access
Points may be wired into the network. These Access Points talk to
each other over the hard-wired Ethernet cables however, they
cannot communicate wirelessly to one another and they must be
wired to the same network. Individual wireless PC’s can move
between Access Points on the same network seamlessly due to a
feature called ROAMING.
• What is Tx-Rate?
o
Tx-Rate or TRANSFER RATE is the current speed at which the
network component is operating. SMC-802.11b products can
operate at speeds of 1Mb, 2Mb, 5.5Mb, & 11Mbps. A wireless card
set to AUTO will attempt to connect at whatever speed will give the
best throughput on the network.
• What is RTS Threshold?
o
(Request To Send) An RS-232 signal sent from the transmitting
station to the receiving station requesting permission to transmit.
RTS is a collision avoidance method used by all 802.11b wireless
networking devices. In most cases you will not need to activate or
administer RTS. Only if you find yourself in an Infrastructure
environment where all nodes are in range of the Access Point but