The biggest advantage of wireless mesh networks -- as opposed to wired

or fixed wireless networks -- is that they are truly wireless. Most

traditional "wireless" access points still need to be wired to the Internet
to broadcast their signal. For large wireless networks, Ethernet cables
need to be buried in ceilings and walls and throughout public areas.
In a wireless mesh network, only one node needs to be physically wired
to a network connection like a DSL Internet modem. That one wired
node then shares its Internet connection wirelessly with all other nodes
in its vicinity. Those nodes then share the connection wirelessly with the
nodes closest to them. The more nodes, the further the connection
spreads, creating a wireless "cloud of connectivity" that can serve a
small office or a city of millions.
Wireless mesh networks advantages include:
Using fewer wires means it costs less to set up a network,
particularly for large areas of coverage.
The more nodes you install, the bigger and faster your wireless
network becomes.
They rely on the same WiFi standards (802.11a, b and g) already in
place for most wireless networks.
They are convenient where Ethernet wall connections are lacking
-- for instance, in outdoor concert venues, warehouses or
transportation settings.
They are useful for Non-Line-of-Sight (NLoS) network
configurations where wireless signals are intermittently blocked.
For example, in an amusement park a Ferris wheel occasionally
blocks the signal from a wireless access point. If there are dozens
or hundreds of other nodes around, the mesh network will adjust to
find a clear signal.

 Mesh networks are "self configuring;" the network automatically

incorporates a new node into the existing structure without needing
any adjustments by a network administrator.
Mesh networks are "self healing," since the network automatically
finds the fastest and most reliable paths to send data, even if nodes
are blocked or lose their signal.
Wireless mesh configurations allow local networks to run faster,
because local packets don't have to travel back to a central server.
Wireless mesh nodes are easy to install and uninstall, making the
network extremely adaptable and expandable as more or less
coverage is needed.
The Advantages of Wireless Mesh Networks
A wireless mesh network is very similar to a regular wireless network.
The only difference between the two is reach. While a wireless network
may spread throughout a building or a neighborhood, a wireless mesh
network covers a much larger area, such as a city. A wireless mesh
network has several advantages over other kinds of networks.
1. Easy to Set Up
o Since a wireless mesh network is simply a bigger wireless
network and uses the same protocols and equipment, it is
easy to set up and expand a wireless mesh network. The cost
of the equipment is lower compared to other networking
solutions, and the ease of installation clearly outscores other
methods, since there is no need to mount cables around an
entire city to obtain a huge network.

Good Coverage
o A wireless mesh network consists of multiple nodes that
communicate with each other. If for whatever reason a node
is blocked and separated from the network for a while, other
nodes in its vicinity cover the respective area and take the
load.
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Self-Management
o Once set up, a wireless mesh network can manage its load to
avoid clogging a certain network node. If one node becomes
very busy, the network traffic is redirected trough other
nodes, maintaining a good balance of the network load. The
self-management feature, which allows for the system to find
the best traffic paths when congestion occurs, provides a
system that may experience less failure and downtime.
Speed
o Unlike a traditional network, where a device acts as a server,
which handles all data, and requires all data packets to run
through it, in a wireless mesh network each node acts as an
individual server. This allows for greater speeds for local
connection, which run directly from the source to their
destination, without needing to pass through a server.

Interconnectivity
o Since wireless mesh networks use the same protocols as
regular wireless network, it is easy to establish connectivity
between your own local networks and a wireless mesh
network. A wireless mesh network can be a good method to
connect two local networks, situated in opposite parts of a
city, without using the Internet. This way, the data speeds are
increased and the chances of a network drop are very low.
Wireless Mesh Networks (WMN)
Mesh is a technology that comes from the optical networking world and
has been adapted to the Ethernet market. Mesh is a very smart way to
provide resilient networks. Mesh architecture creates the opportunity to
change data paths within a second when problems occur. Compared to
the older solutions for network resilience, mesh really was a big step
forward.
In the Ethernet WAN world mesh has been fully implemented and
widely accepted. In the smaller Ethernet LAN world however nobody is
using it. The question can be asked, why is everybody discussing
(needing) this in the WLAN Ethernet world?
Obviously mesh is mainly related to city-wide (outdoor) Wireless LAN
networks and those indoor networks where there are no Ethernet cables
available. This immediately explains why mesh has become so popular.
Particularly in these networks the radios have to rely on each other to
build a successful WAN access, and when one radio fails another has to
maintain the path to the WAN. Also the mesh standard is built in such a
way that radios are able to find each other easily without any human
interference: mesh has its own intelligence!

Disadvantages of WMNs.
So, why isnt everybody using mesh today as its advantages seem to be
so appealing? The main reasons why we dont advise the use of mesh
are the negative sides of mesh: bandwidth consumption and lack of
interoperability.
Bandwidth (double use):
WLAN has already the disadvantage that almost 50% of the gross data
rate has to be used for overhead. These overheads are really important to
get stable links and to transmit the data without interruption. To build a
mesh network another 50% of the available data-rate has to be reserved
for the fault-back path. As such, radios are sending the same data twice.
With the continued rapid growth of bandwidth demand, WMN are
unlikely to be able to deliver the speeds required by consumers.
Interoperability:
The IEEE has ratified the 802.11s standard to make a first step into the
mesh world. The standard explains how multivendor networks can be
built by setting up alternative paths based on Layer 2. It sadly missed the
needed mesh-intelligent (layer 3) level, so every mesh vendor is still
offering his own proprietary solution.
Disadvantages
The more extensive the network, in terms of scope or of physical
area, the greater the investment necessary to build it will be, due,
among other considerations, to the amount of cabling and the
number of hardware ports it will require. For this reason, such
networks are uncommon.

 Because every device must be connected to every other device,

installation and reconnection are difficult.
The huge bulk of the wiring can often be greater than the available
space in the ceiling or under floors can accommodate.
The advantages and disadvantages of wireless sensor networks
can be summarized
as follows:
Advantages:
1. Network setups can be done without fixed infrastructure.
2. Ideal for the non-reachable places such as across the sea,
mountains, rural areas or deep forests.
3. Flexible if there is ad hoc situation when additional workstation
is required.
4. Implementation cost is cheap.
Disadvantages:
1. Less secure because hackers can enter the access point and get
all the information.
2. Lower speed compared to a wired network.
3. More complex to configure than a wired network.
4. Easily affected by surroundings (walls, microwavea, large
distances due to signal attenuation, etc.).
Advantages and disadvantages of mobile ad-hoc networks
ADVANTAGES OF AD HOC NETWORKS
There are many reasons better to use ad hoc than infrastructure.
The biggest ad hocs strength is its independency from
any infrastructure. Therefore, it is possible to establish an ad
hoc network in any difficult situations. The following are the
advantages of ad hoc networks.
a. No infrastructure and lower cost: There are situations,
with which a user of a communication system cannot rely on
an infrastructure[1]. Using a service from a infrastructure can

be expensive for specific applications.

In an area with very low density, like desert, mountain, or
isolated area it is not impossible to establish an Infrastructure.
But if we compare how often the people there are using service
of infrastructure and how many data per day transmitted with
cost of installation, maintenance, and repair, it is maybe too
expensive.
Almost the same problem with military network. It is obviously
very useless to build an infrastructure in a battlefield.
Aside from cost of installation, the enemy can destroy the
infrastructure in short time. A independent from infrastructure
network is needed for both cases.
b. Mobility (MANET only): In the next generation of
wireless communication systems, there will be a need for
the rapid deployment of independent mobile users[12]. The
most popular examples include military networks, emergency
/ rescue operations, disaster effort. In these scenarios we cant
rely on centralized connectivity. MANETs support nodes
mobility. We can still communicate with our mobile devices
as long as the destination is reachable.
c. Decentralized and robust: Another advantage of ad hoc
networks is that they are inherently very robust[4]. Imagine
that for some reason one of the base stations is not working.
In this case, all users of that base station will lose connectivity
to other networks.
In the ad hoc networks you can avoid such problem. If one
node leaves the network or is not working, you can still have
connectivity to other nodes and maybe you can use these nodes
to multi-hop your message to the destination nodes, as long
as there is at least one way to desired node.
d. Easy to build and spontaneous infrastructure: Malfunction
of a network infrastructure is sometimes not avoidable.
It is obviously difficult to repair or replace the malfunction
infrastructure in short time, while the networks existence must
be maintained all-time. Establishing an ad hoc is a good deal

in such situation. The network participants can act as ad hoc

nodes and hop the messages.
VI. DISADVANTAGES OF AD HOC NETWORKS
The wireless communication is very famous nowadays,
using wireless can make rooms look better, because fewer
cables are used. The weakness of wireless link impact ad
hoc. Lower data rate, security, and medium access control are
common problems in the wireless communications. Ad hocs
strengths cause also some problems. The following are the
disadvanteges of ad hoc networks.
a. Higher error rate: Unlike wired transmission, the wireless
transmission may deal with problem the characteristic of
the electronic wave. In a free room without obstacle the electronic
wave propagate linear indepently from its frequency[1].
There is seldom such a situation. The obstacle causes shadowing,
reflection, scattering, fading, refraction, diffraction of
the wave. These propagation may lead to transmitted packets
being garbled and thus received in error.
b. Lower data rate: One of biggest Problem of ad hoc
networks is reduced data rates. The characteristic of wave,
which is used for wireless communication, prevents wireless
communication to transmit data better than wired communication.
A higher frequency can transmit more data, but then it
is more vulnerable to interference and performs well in short
range.
c. Dynamic topology and scalability: Because ad hoc networks
do not allow the same kinds of aggregation techniques
that are available to standard Internet routing protocols, they
are vulnerable to scalability problem[6].
Since the MANETs nodes are mobile, the routing changes
as the nodes move. Current connectivity Information must to
be propagated to all networks participant. Control messages
have to sent around the network frequently. The increased
number of control messages burdens the available bandwidth.

Therefore, the ad hoc protocols are typically designed to

reduce the number of control messages, such as by keeping
the current information.
A good algorithm for ad hoc networks must be able to
evaluate and compare networks relative scalability in the face
of increased number of nodes and nodes mobility. It is very
important to know how many control message is required. So
we can control bandwidths usage.
d. Security: Due to dynamic distributed infrastructure-less
nature and lack of centralized monitoring points, the ad hoc
networks are vulnerable to various kinds of attacks[13]. Unlike
wired channel, the wireless channel is accessible to both
legitimate network users and malicious attacker. Therefore,
the ad hoc networks are susceptible to attacks ranging from
passive attacks such as eavesdropping to active attack such
as interfering[14]. Especially for MANET, limited power
consumption and computation capabilities, due to energy
limitation, causes incapability to execute computation-heavy
algorithms like public key algorithms.
Passive attack means, that the attacker does not send any
message. The attacker just listens the channel, therefore, it is
almost impossible to detect this attack. In contrast, the active
attacks modifies, deletes the packets, injects packets to invalid
destination. Active attack can be detected.
There are numerous security problem issues in the ad hoc
networks. The following are some of the security problem of
IEEE 802.11.
1) Eavesdropping (passive), a non-legitimate listening into
a transmission between two nodes.
2) Traffic analysis (passive), the attacker monitoring the
transmission for patterns of communication.
3) Masquerading (active), the attacker pretends to authorized
user of a system in order to gain access to it or to
gain access to it or to gain greater privileges than they

are authorized for.

4) Replay (active), the attacker spies transmissions and
retransmits message as the legitimate user
5) Message modification (active), the attacker alters a
original message by deleting, adding to, modifying it.
6) Denial-of-service or interruption (active), the attacker
prevents or prohibits the normal use or management of
communications facilities.
e. Energy limitation (MANET only): A MANET network
allows mobile nodes to communicate in the absence of a
fixed infrastructure. Therefore, they operate with on battery
power. Because of these limitation, they must have algorithms
which are energy-efficient as well as operating with limited
processing and memory resources[15]. The usage of available
bandwidth will be limited because nodes may not be able to
sacrifice the energy consumed by operating at full link speed.
It is also very annoying, while receiving data from someone
with PDA, the battery is almost depleted. Repeating the
transfer process after recharging is necessary. Therefore a
MANET is not suitable for a permanent network

Wireless ad hoc networks are collections of wireless nodes,

that communicate directly over a common wireless channel.
The nodes are equipped with wireless transceiver. They dont
need any additional infrastructure, such as base station or
wired access point, etc. Therefore, each node doesnt only
plays the role of an end system, but also acts as a router, that
sends packets to desired nodes.
The ad hoc are expected to do assignments, which the
infrastructure cant do. Ad hoc networks are mostly used by
military, rescue mission team, taxi driver. Their works cant
rely on a infrastructures network. As an illustrative example,
imagine firefighters put out hazardous fire in a big forest.
They have to communicate each other, but establishing a
infrastructure or cabling in such area is impossible or too
expensive.
The main problems in ad hoc networks are routing and
characteristic of wireless communication. In infrastructures

networks a node can communicate with all nodes in the same

cell. In ad hoc a node can communicate only with nodes in
its area. this node can communicate with other nodes, but a
routing algorithm is necessary. Unlike wired communication,
wireless networks have transmission problem with data transmission
such as, possibility of asymmetric connections and
higher interferences.