Nokia D311 User Manual page 11

The Nokia D311 PC card enables different types of communication in a WLAN.
There are two operating modes to choose from: infrastructure and ad hoc.
Infrastructure
The infrastructure operating mode allows two kinds of communication:
•
Wireless stations communicate with each other through a WLAN access point.
•
Wireless stations communicate with a wired LAN station through a WLAN
access point.
Figure 1 - Infrastructure network
The advantage of the infrastructure operating mode is that you can have more
control over network connections because they pass through an access point. A
wireless station can access the services that are available in a regular wired LAN:
company database, e-mail, the Internet, and other network resources, for example.
Ad hoc
In the ad hoc operating mode, wireless stations send and receive data directly with
each other; no access point is required. Simply insert the PC cards into the
stations, make the necessary configurations, and start communicating. Ad hoc
networking is easy to set up, but communication is limited to stations that are
within range. As long as the stations are within range, you can, for example, share
and exchange files.
WLAN access point
7
Introduction