WLAN Components

The wireless network components can be roughly mapped to the OSI reference model and broken down into the following categories for the purpose of providing a degree of structure when considering various design issues:

  • Radio frequencies, transmit power, and antennae (layer 1, physical)

  • APs and wireless bridges (layer 2, data link)

  • Wireless routers (layer 3, network)

  • Wireless clients (higher layers)

Radio-wave frequencies, the transmit power levels of a wireless device, and the type and gain of antennae replace the cabling considerations at the physical layer. Similar to the LAN switches, APs aggregate wireless clients and bridges extend the reach of a wireless LAN at the data link layer. And wireless routers extend the wireless reach ...

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