Ad-hoc Network Operating

This alarm indicates that WiFi Manager has detected an ad-hoc network operating in the LAN.

What is a ad-hoc network ?

A set of mobile devices within direct communication range establishing a network among themselves for transmitting data, without the use of a central base station (Access point) is called a ad-hoc network.  Adhoc networks are also referred to as IBSS (Independent Basic Service Set).  The smallest possible adhoc network is a network between two mobile devices.  The mobile devices participating in the ad-hoc network are called ad-hoc clients.

What are the problems associated with Adhoc Networks ?

Typically ad-hoc networks are established among small number of stations, for a specific purpose and for a short period of time.  Since they are setup as a quick alternative to the infrastructure network, they are usually not protected and generally violates most of the corporate policies.  They lack good authentication mechanism for users to participate in the network and also lack encryption mechanism for data transfer, thus risk exposing important information.  If the mobile clients participating in the ad-hoc network are also connected to the wired network then the entire corporate data is at risk.

What should the wireless LAN Administrators do ?

Wireless LAN administrators should analyze the reason for existence of such ad-hoc networks and should try to shut them down as early as possible.  They should also educate the users of the LAN about the potential problems of operating such ad-hoc networks.  They should also identify the clients participating in the ad-hoc networks and if they are legitimate users, should add them to the trusted list of users.  It is also ad visible to stick to "No Ad-hoc" policy which will help eliminating such risks.