The Difference between Access Point and an Ad-Hoc Network

These two network types have so far been very confusing due to their various similarities. I would elaborate more on them below.


Access Point

Technically, the Access Point Network usually connects to a router through a wired connection and forwards data to all connected wireless devices.


Ad Hoc

 
The Ad Hoc network on the other hand is one in which all wireless devices have the same status on the network (i.e. no device such as routers is relied on for data transmission). Each device gets involved by retransmitting data from other devices along the network by the use of a connection between or among the devices.

The ultimate difference between an Ad Hoc network and an access point network falls in their sharing manner and mode.

Access points can have one Wi Fi card as the main source of internet connection as well as the source of internet sharing.
Ad Hoc mode only allows that the internet connection to be shared comes from a different source like an cellular modem, an ethernet card or anotther Wi-fi card..
For speed, the access point is noticeably faster with speeds up to 54 Mbps and supports various IEEE 802.11 band standards(802.11a,b,g).Ad Hoc on the other hand, has a maximum speed of 11 Mbps and operates on the IEEE 802.11b band standards.
In terms of coverage, the Access Point network is able to cover a wider range (103m) compared to the Ad Hoc network.
Another big difference is their security considerations, the Access Point network is the most secured. It supports many encryption protocols like the WEP, WPA, WPA2.(WPA and WPA2 are the most secured encryption protocols currently with paraphrasing support).
 The Ad Hoc supports the WEP encryption which has so far been the weakest and easiest to crack(The passkey must include only digits).
Currently, many latest devices like Android devices, Amazon Kindles and Blackberry devices running 5.0 or later.

Android Devices would require rooting before supporting the Ad Hoc network..

Please leave any comment below. Would be glad to answer all your questions..