Introduction to wireless networks

A wireless network is a computer network where devices communicate using radio waves, infrared, or other wireless signals instead of physical cables.

It introduces different networking challenges than wired networks.

Although the Internet protocols (IP, TCP, HTTP, etc.) are largely the same, the physical and link-layer is very different.

Elements of a wireless network

Element	Description	Examples/Notes
Wireless hosts	Devices that communicate over a wireless network. They may be stationary or mobile.	Smartphones Tablets Laptops IoT (Internet of Things) devices
Wireless links	A communication channel that connects a wireless host to either: a base station (such as a Wi-Fi access point or cell tower) another wireless host	Different wireless technologies provide different: link transmission rates coverage ranges
Wireless access points (base stations)	Connect wireless hosts to the rest of the network. Responsibilities include: sending and receiving packets for connected wireless hosts coordinating transmissions between multiple wireless hosts	Cell towers (cellular networks) Access points (IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs)
Network infrastructure	The larger network with which a wireless host may wish to communicate.	The Internet

Wireless networks can be classified using two criteria:

number of wireless hops:
- single-hop: a packet crosses one wireless link
- multi-hop: a packet passes through one or more intermediate wireless devices before reaching its destination
presence of infrastructure:
- infrastructure-based: the network includes a base station
- infrastructure-less: the network has no base station

Types of wireless networks:

Type	Description	Examples / Notes
Single-hop / infrastructure-based	This is the most common type of wireless network: a base station is connected to a larger wired network (such as the Internet) each wireless host communicates directly with the base station over a single wireless hop	IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), where the infrastructure consists of Wi-Fi access points (APs) and the wired Ethernet network connecting the APs to a router 4G LTE cellular networks
Single-hop / infrastructure-less	there is no base station devices communicate directly with one another one device may coordinate communication between the others	Bluetooth networks
Multi-hop / infrastructure-based	a base station is connected to the larger network some wireless hosts cannot reach the base station directly packets are forwarded through other wireless hosts before reaching the base station	some wireless sensor networks some wireless mesh networks deployed in homes
Multi-hop / infrastructure-less	there is no base station devices communicate by forwarding packets through one or more intermediate devices	this class of networks is known as mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs)

We will focus exclusively on single-hop, infrastructure-based wireless networks.

Published on 03/08/2026