Designing the physical network
It may seem odd to talk about the “physical” network when building wireless networks. In wireless networks, the physical medium we use for communication is obviously electromagnetic energy. But the physical network refers to the mundane topic of where to put things. 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. Point-to-point Point-to-point links typically provide an Internet connection where such access isn t otherwise available. One side of a point-to-point link will have an Internet connection, while the other uses the link to reach the Internet. For example, a university may have a fast frame rela