CNET CWP-800 - Manual (Page 4)

Chapter 2: Planning Your Wireless Network
A wireless local area network (WLAN) is exactly like a regular local area network (LAN), except that
each computer in the WLAN uses a wireless device to connect to the network. Computers in a WLAN
share the same frequency channel and SSID, which is an identification name for wireless devices.
An Ad-Hoc wireless LAN is a group of computers, each equipped with one WLAN adapter, connected
as an independent wireless LAN. Computers in a specific Ad-Hoc wireless LAN must be configured to
share the same radio channel.
The adapter provides access to a wired LAN for wireless workstations. An integrated wireless and
wired LAN is called an infrastructure configuration. A group of adapter PC users and an Access Point
compose a Basic Service Set (BSS). Each adapter PC in a BSS can talk to any computer in the wired
LAN infrastructure via the Access Point.
Network Topology
Ad-Hoc versus Infrastructure Mode