Limitations of WiFi Ad Hoc Mode Networking

| Wireless Driver & Software

A. Consider these limitations of ad-hoc mode WiFi wireless networking:

1. WiFi devices in ad hoc mode offer minimal security against unwanted incoming connections. For example, ad-hoc WiFi devices cannot disable SSID broadcast like infrastructure mode devices can. Attackers generally will have little difficulty connecting to your ad-hoc device if they get within signal range.
2. Signal strength indications accessible when connected in infrastructure mode will be unavailable to you in ad-hoc mode. Therefore, you will face some difficulty whenever re-positioning an ad-hoc device to achieve a better signal.
3. The WiFi networking standards (including 802.11g) require only that ad-hoc mode communication supports 11 Mbps bandwidth.

   You should expect that WiFi devices supporting 54 Mbps or higher in infrastructure mode, will drop back to a maximum of 11 Mbps when changed to ad-hoc mode. Ad-hoc mode should generally be viewed as "slower" than infrastructure mode for this reason.