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..

14:54 - By Unknown 0

How to Share Internet Connection On PC to Other Wireless Devices



Sharing internet connection from a wireless device like a smartphone, router has been the trend for sometime now. But sharing an internet connection from a PC or laptop to other wireless devices has never been that easier.
From the hardwork of the "Connectify" team, this problem is no longer considered a problem.
Considering the fact that most of us are active online with PC's, it would be most convenient to be able to share the PC's internet connection with other wireless devices like other PC's, phones, iPods and other wireless devices.


You can check Tutorials for the installation of connectify for installation instructions.
After successfully installing connectify, you would be required to restart.
On startup, run the connectify software and you would see something similar to the image below. Click "Use free Version" if you downloaded the free version and on" Enter License" if you bought the license key.
After making your choice, another menu would pop up from your task bar. It should be similar to the one below.
 It may look different depending on the version downloaded.

 Follow the steps as shown above.

1.  Type in your desired hotspot name in the Hotspot name box
2. Choose the internet connection you want to share. In the picture above, we would be sharing the internet connection from Atheros AR9285 Wireless Adapter.

Click on the Advanced arrow and a menu would drop like the picture below

 Now selected the device to share over and the type of sharing or security mode.
After selecting your security mode, type in your password below the hotspot name.

    3. then click on the start hotspot button to start the hotspot.
N.B: You can only run an Ad-hoc with windows versions below Windows 7. Windows 7 and above fully support the access point network.
You may read The Difference between Access Point and Ad Hoc Network
You can now connect any wireless device to the hotspot.

Hope everything goes well. Drop your comments below if u face any difficulty.


Basic operations on connectify-me with their meanings.

19:05 - By Unknown 0

How to install Connectify

Download the latest version of connectify here. After downloading open the installer and click agree to proceed with the setup. By default, it would be installed into it's default directory [ i.e. Local Disk (C:)].
It would take a couple of minutes to install as it would be checking for the availability of important system files like Net Framework. If your machine doesn't have Net Framework installed, don't panic yet. It would download it by itself.
This is probably the time to grab a cup of coffee whilst you wait for the installation to complete.
After the installation is done, you would be required to restart to complete the installation.

17:22 - By Unknown 0