Configuring Wireless Networking in Windows Vista
Wireless networking has come on strong in the past few years. Wireless networking is defined by the IEEE 802.11 standard. Also known as Wi-Fi, 802.11 comes in three flavors: a, b, and g. The differences relate mainly to the operating frequency and the available bandwidth.
To utilize wireless networking in a permanent setting where a wireless network needs to exist full time, you need both a Wireless Access Point (WAP) and a wireless NIC in each computer. A wireless network that uses a WAP is known as an infrastructure network. All the devices must support the same standard of Wi-Fi; in other words, 802.11b NICs can only talk with 802.11b access points. It is not uncommon to find WAPs and wireless NICs that support multiple standards. When running in infrastructure mode, the WAP is hard-wired to the physical network. All wireless clients must connect to a WAP in order to communicate with other wired and wireless devices.
You can also create an ad hoc network using 802.11 wireless NICs. In an ad hoc network, several machines with wireless cards can communicate with one another without the use of an access point. Each machine in effect acts as both an access point and as a client. Ad hoc networks are great for small meetings or for transferring large files from one machine to another in an area where a network connection is unavailable.
