Kentucky Trade wants to help you in understand how a wireless network is built.

To build a wireless network there are five types of equipment you will need to know about:
- Wireless network adapters
- Wireless access points
- Wireless routers
- Add-on wireless antennas
- Wireless signal boosters
Note: Some of these are optional, depending on your configuration.

Each computer you wish to connect to a WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) must possess a wireless network adapter or NIC (Network Interface Card). In newer machines, small chips act as wireless network cards and are located inside notebooks or handheld computers. Wireless network adapters are responsible for organizing the flow of information between the computer and the network.

A Wireless Access Point serves as the central WLAN communication station. An access point is typically installed when a router is present in the network. A Wireless Router is a wireless access point with several other useful functions added. It supports internet connection sharing and includes firewall technology for improved security.

Wireless Antennas are used for every wireless network adapter, access point, and router. They provide the capability to transmit and receive the signal. Wireless Signal Boosters are small pieces of equipment that are installed together with an access point or router. These serve to increase the strength of the transmission from the base station. Both antennas and signal boosters can be a useful addition to some wireless networks after the basics are in place. They provide the ability to bring out-of-range computers back into range of the WLAN, and often improve network performance.



A typical Network configuration would be setup like this: a router is connected to your local area network, the Internet Service and your Access Point. This “wireless access point” provides access for all of your wireless devices, i.e. laptops, desktops, print servers and others.