ZyXEL G-1000 v2 User’s Guide

AP P E N D I X H

Wireless LAN and IEEE 802.11

A wireless LAN (WLAN) provides a flexible data communications system that you can use to access various services (navigating the Internet, email, printer services, etc.) without the use of a cabled connection. In effect a wireless LAN environment provides you the freedom to stay connected to the network while roaming around in the coverage area.

Benefits of a Wireless LAN

Wireless LAN offers the following benefits:

It provides you with access to network services in areas otherwise hard or expensive to wire, such as historical buildings, buildings with asbestos materials and classrooms.

It provides healthcare workers like doctors and nurses access to a complete patient’s profile on a handheld or notebook computer upon entering a patient’s room.

It allows flexible workgroups a lower total cost of ownership for workspaces that are frequently reconfigured.

It allows conference room users access to the network as they move from meeting to meeting, getting up-to-date access to information and the ability to communicate decisions while “on the go”.

It provides campus-wide networking mobility, allowing enterprises the roaming capability to set up easy-to-use wireless networks that cover the entire campus transparently.

IBSS

An Independent Basic Service Set (IBSS), also called an Ad-hoc network, is the simplest WLAN configuration. An IBSS is defined as two or more computers with wireless adapters within range of each other that from an independent (wireless) network without the need of an access point (AP).

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