9
3. Wireless Topologies
RangeLAN2 products look and operate similar to Ethernet
products. The only difference is that a radio replaces the wire
between various nodes. This means that all of your existing
applications that operate over Ethernet will work with
RangeLAN2 without any special wireless networking software.
Wireless products are typically used in several network topolo-
gies described in this chapter.
Ad Hoc
With wireless LANs, one or more computers easily establish an
ad hoc network when the units are in range of each other. Each
computer can dynamically connect and reconnect to the others
with no additional configuration, using off-the-shelf peer-to-peer
network operating systems. With this capability, many compa-
nies are developing applications optimized for ad hoc networks.
With the addition of the Ethernet Adapter to the RangeLAN2
family, you may now connect resources to your wireless network
that previously did not support a Proxim device driver such as
printers, UNIX-based systems, and Macintosh computers.
Figure 3
Ad Hoc