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Simple OSI Question.....???
- Thread starter mtibo05
- Start date
Parcival21
Technical User
In my understanding they mainly operate at Layer 2 like Switches. They usually have no routing capabilities(Layer 3). They switch data between the hosts. Addressing is done with MAC Addresses.
bye,
busche
bye,
busche
Parcival21 is correct. Although some AP's can operate at L3. Most are L2.
"I can picture a world without war. A world without hate. A world without fear. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it."
- Jack Handey, Deep Thoughts
"I can picture a world without war. A world without hate. A world without fear. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it."
- Jack Handey, Deep Thoughts
APs also touch on layer one. Remember what your are creating is a wirless connection. More like a virtual wire.
That wire is the physical layer. The AP acts more like the hub, but it is also providing the physical network connection down to the end point.
That wire is the physical layer. The AP acts more like the hub, but it is also providing the physical network connection down to the end point.
hmmmm, everybody is a little right,
An AP is a layer 1 and 2 device. On the wireless site it acts more or less like a hub (Layer 1), but the sending and receiving of wireless frames is controlled by MAC frames (Layer 2). Further it does bridging to the wired LAN (again Layer 2).
If you look deeper into the specifics of a AP, most of them also support special protocols for roaming users (user is hopping from one AP to another, witch are connected to the same physical LAN). These specific protocols are mostly layer 2, but sometimes also layer three, and are traveling (depending on the vendor and the protocol) over the wired LAN.
When your AP is also an DHCP server and has an web interface, it technically reaches layer 7 of the OSI model with these protocols/services.
greetings
Robert
An AP is a layer 1 and 2 device. On the wireless site it acts more or less like a hub (Layer 1), but the sending and receiving of wireless frames is controlled by MAC frames (Layer 2). Further it does bridging to the wired LAN (again Layer 2).
If you look deeper into the specifics of a AP, most of them also support special protocols for roaming users (user is hopping from one AP to another, witch are connected to the same physical LAN). These specific protocols are mostly layer 2, but sometimes also layer three, and are traveling (depending on the vendor and the protocol) over the wired LAN.
When your AP is also an DHCP server and has an web interface, it technically reaches layer 7 of the OSI model with these protocols/services.
greetings
Robert
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