thumb|illustration of a mesh network. a mesh network uses a network topology in which each node (called a mesh node) relays data for the network. all nodes cooperate in the distribution of data in the network. designers of mesh networks can employ a flooding technique or a routing technique. when using a routing technique, the message is propagated along a path, by hopping from node to node until the destination is reached. to ensure all its paths' availability, a routing network must allow for continuous connections and reconfiguration around broken or blocked paths, using self-healing algorithms. self-healing capability enables a routing-based network to operate when one node breaks down or when a connection becomes unreliable. as a result, the network is typically quite reliable, as there is often more than one path between a source and a destination in the network. although mostly used in wireless situations, this concept can also apply to wired networks and to software interaction. a mesh network whose nodes are all connected to each other is a fully connected network. fully connected wired networks have the advantages of security and reliability: problems in a cable affect only the two nodes attached to it. however, in such networks, the number of cables, and therefore the cost, goes up rapidly as the number of nodes increases. one can regard mesh networks as one type of an ad hoc network. mobile ad hoc networks (manets) and mesh networks are therefore closely related, but a manet also must deal with problems introduced by the mobility of the nodes. ==wired mesh network== shortest path bridging allows ethernet switches to be connected in a mesh topology and for all paths to be active.  
Network_topology Telecommunications Wireless_networking