Wireless Access Point - Common WAP Applications

Common WAP Applications

A typical corporate use involves attaching several APs to a wired network and then providing wireless access to the office LAN. The wireless access points are managed by a WLAN Controller which handles automatic adjustments to RF power, channels, authentication, and security. Further, controllers can be combined to form a wireless mobility group to allow inter-controller roaming. The controllers can be part of a mobility domain to allow clients access throughout large or regional office locations. This saves the clients time and administrators overhead because it can automatically re-associate or re-authenticate.

A hotspot is a common public application of APs, where wireless clients can connect to the Internet without regard for the particular networks to which they have attached for the moment. The concept has become common in large cities, where a combination of coffeehouses, libraries, as well as privately owned open access points, allow clients to stay more or less continuously connected to the Internet, while moving around. A collection of connected hotspots can be referred to as a lily pad network.

WAPs are commonly used in Home wireless networks. Home networks generally have only one WAP to connect all the computers in a home. Most are wireless routers, meaning converged devices that include the AP, a router, and, often, an Ethernet switch. Many also include a broadband modem. In places where most homes have their own AP within range of the neighbours' AP, it's possible for technically savvy people to turn off their encryption and set up a wireless community network, creating an intra-city communication network although this does not negate the requirement for a wired network.

An AP may also act as the network's arbitrator, negotiating when each nearby client device can transmit. However, the vast majority of currently installed IEEE 802.11 networks do not implement this, using a distributed pseudo-random algorithm called CSMA/CA instead.