As usual, I left Zippy's domain with more questions than answers. A Standard for the New Millennium Wireless networking is not a new concept. Some of us have played with infrared networks over the last few years, a method most successful using only two workstations less than four feet apart with direct line of sight and no obstructions. Under tightly controlled conditions, you could get more stations set up, but it was rarely worth the effort. The standard that may finally make wireless networking feasible on a wider scale is less than three years old.
Radio frequencies are a proven technology.
Just ask anyone using a cellular phone. A BSS typically contains one or more wireless stations and a central base station. Base stations are the access points to the network and may be either fixed or mobile. All the base stations in a particular wireless network communicate amongst themselves using the IEEE 802.11 wireless MAC protocol. Like cellular phone service, the cells in a wireless network overlap to provide coverage over an area larger than that covered by an individual cell.