How does an Wireless Access Point works ?

[SJ K]

Hi all,

I have been googling , but mostly they talk about how to setup Access point but did not mention about how it actually works internally.

q1) Can I just think of AP as "wireless L2 switch"  which also bridge the radio signal network to the wired network

q2) can AP work as a standalone if i just want wireless connectivity in the devices connected to it, without an uplink to any router.

Regards,
Noob

[iMedxSGower · Accepted solution]

You won't usually get into much trouble thinking of it as a Layer 2 switch which happens to have a RF transceiver in place of the port banks.  There is a bit more intelligence to it, since it has to account for encryption and handoff of active sessions as the user moves from WAP to WAP, that sort of thing. 

Many, if not all, types have an "ad hoc" mode (versus "infrastructure" mode) to allow peer to peer without the wider connectivity.  Never used it myself, the end customers I've worked with absolutely want the router uplink - if they're away from email more than 47.2 seconds, they get twitchy. 

[SJ K]

Hi Leo, Imedx,

Thanks for the reply.

Can I check what has ad-hoc mode got to do with a WAP as adhoc mode involve peer to peer directly communication  ?

Regards,
Noob

[iMedxSGower · Accepted solution]

The WAP is the connecting media between the endpoints.  Peer to peer does not require a direct linkage between just two endpoints, only a common protocol and some way to communicate - witness the many P2P "file sharing" technologies that abound on the Internet that link hundreds or thousands of peers.  Ad hoc networks are often, but not always, meant to be temporary...the term itself translates simply as "spontaneous".  Note that there is NOT any linkage between peer to peer and ad hoc - P2P is very common in infrastructure LANs, and client-server can be used in ad hoc systems.  Leo's example, in fact, was ad hoc in nature yet most likely was also client-server, as one machine served to host the game the others connected into.

[Leo Laohoo · Accepted solution]

can AP work as a standalone if i just want wireless connectivity in the devices connected to it, without an uplink to any router

Yes.  I did this several times when friends would play LAN games against each other.  We stuck an AP and got the AP to dish out IP addresses.  Works fine.  

Can I just think of AP as "wireless L2 switch"  which also bridge the radio signal network to the wired network

Yes.  This can be done.  It's called wireless point-to-point bridge.