Before I go into the specifications of the two D-Link wireless networking products, I think this is an appropriate time to introduce some of the features of the IEEE 802.11b standard that both of the products are based on. The IEEE 802.11b standard was developed for high data rate and high range data transfers--wireless networking seems like the perfect application for the standard. It supports up to 11Mbps data transfer and up to 100m (indoors) or 300m (outdoors) between devices. Devices are connected together using one of two methods: Ad-Hoc or Infrastructure.

The first method, Ad-Hoc, is basically a method to connect wireless devices together without a central hub or "access point." It can be considered like a wireless peer-to-peer method of network networking, since it does not require an access point for the network to function. A downside, however, is that it becomes harder to connect a wireless network to an existing wired network-since that's one of the jobs that an access point performs.

The Infrastructure mode adds access points into the mix and things begin to become a little more complicated. The access points basically act like hubs for all the wireless network adapters and also as a bridge to connect them to existing wired networks. Using Infrastructure wireless networking basically allows the wireless to join the wired, and vice versa. Another useful application of Infrastructure mode is its ability to join multiple wireless networks, each separated by great distances, together through wired networks so that they can all communicate with each other.

Finally, since the IEEE 802.11b is a "standard," most, if not all, other wireless networking products from other manufacturers other than D-Link that are also using the same standard will be able to work with existing IEEE 802.11b networks.

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