Chapter 3: Designing the physical network
Posted by Mungo under Chapter 3 on February 21st, 2007.It may seem odd to talk about the “physical” network when building wireless networks. After all, where is the physical part of the network? In wireless networks, the physical medium we use for communication is obviously electromagnetic energy. But in the context of this chapter, the physical network refers to the mundane topic of where to put things. How do you arrange the equipment so that you can reach your wireless clients? Whether they fill an office building or stretch across many miles, wireless networks are naturally arranged in these three logical configurations:
- Point-to-point links
- Point-to-multipoint links
- Multipoint-to-multipoint clouds
The physical network layout you choose will depend on the nature of the problem you are trying to solve. While different parts of your network can take advantage of all three of these configurations, any individual link will fall into one of the above topologies. The application of each of these topologies is best described by example.
