Wireless network interface controller
controller card for a wireless network interface
A wireless network interface controller (WNIC) is a network interface controller that connects to a wireless network, such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or LTE (4G) or 5G rather than a wired network, such as an Ethernet network. It consists of a modem, an automated radio transmitter and receiver which operate in the background, exchanging digital data in the form of data packets with other wireless devices or wireless routers using radio waves radiated by an antenna, linking the devices together transparently in a computer network. A WNIC, just like other network interface controllers (NICs), works on layers 1 and 2 of the OSI model.
A wireless network interface controller may be implemented as an expansion card and connected using PCI bus or PCIe bus, or connected via USB, PC Card, ExpressCard, Mini PCIe or M.2.
The low cost and ubiquity of the Wi-Fi standard means that many newer mobile computers have a wireless network interface built into the motherboard.
The term is usually applied to adapters using the Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11) network protocol; it may also apply to a NIC using protocols other than 802.11, such as one implementing Bluetooth connections.
Modes of operation
An 802.11 WNIC can operate in two modes known as infrastructure mode and ad hoc mode:
Infrastructure mode
In an infrastructure mode network, the WNIC needs a wireless access point: all data is transferred using the access point as the central hub. All wireless nodes in an infrastructure mode network connect to an access point. All nodes connecting to the access point must have the same service set identifier (SSID) as the access point. If wireless security is enabled on the access point (such as WEP or WPA), the NIC must have valid authentication parameters in order to connect to the access point.
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