What are the two essential components required for a Wireless LAN (WLAN)?
A wireless access point (AP), which bridges wireless clients onto the wired network, and wireless NIC adapters in the hosts themselves.
A Wireless LAN (WLAN) needs two pieces of hardware working together — one on the network side and one in each host:
- Wireless Access Point (AP) — concentrates the wireless signals from all the nearby users and connects them to the existing copper-based wired infrastructure. In effect the AP is the bridge between the radio world and the cabled network; without it, wireless clients could not reach the rest of the network.
- Wireless NIC adapters — the Network Interface Cards inside the hosts (laptops, phones, etc.) that give each device its wireless communication capability and let it talk to the AP.
Two practical considerations follow. First, ensure compatibility and interoperability when buying WLAN gear, since equipment must agree on the same standard (e.g. 802.11) to communicate. Second, because anyone within radio range can attempt to connect, network administrators must develop and apply stringent security policies to protect the WLAN from unauthorized access and damage.
Go deeper:
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Wireless access point — Wikipedia — the AP that bridges wireless clients onto the wired network. -
Wireless LAN — Wikipedia — how APs and wireless NICs (stations) form a WLAN, plus the security considerations.