The challenge of adapting simple, low-cost radio technologies like Wi-Fi to extend commercial public networks is not a trivial task. The public telecommunications industry is approaching a renaissance driven by the incorporation of innovative technologies. Tomorrow's distributed, flexible communications networks will look very different from the centralised, highly-engineered networks of today. A wireless mesh network, based on a new public WLAN architecture, is designed to go beyond traditional 'hot spots' to provide broader, more convenient service coverage for enterprises and individual users, and to help service providers drive increased revenue opportunities, in areas that do not, or cannot, support a wired backhaul. This paper describes the concept of wireless mesh networking and the way it is implemented in a mar-ket-deployable solution. It talks about changing market conditions, the benefits mesh networking brings compared to existing (traditional WLAN) solutions and lists new applications that can targeted. The solution is explained starting from an architectural perspective and describes the different elements and their function in the network, with special attention to some of the functional features (such as mobility).
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