Consider the following scenario: you want to establish an ad hoc network with your netbook and smartphone, but these devices do not support the ad hoc mode. In this paper, the authors provide a way to establish an ad hoc network in infrastructure mode. In a wireless network, when the mobile nodes are connected to each other through an access point, they are said to be communicating in infrastructure mode; when the nodes are connected to each other directly (without an access point or base station), they are said to be communicating in ad hoc mode. As the authors point out, software restrictions on many mobile operating systems prevent devices from participating in ad hoc networks. Apart from that, mobile devices need to support pre-installed routing protocols in order to participate in ad hoc networks, while the support for infrastructure mode is ubiquitous on most devices. This is what motivates the authors to examine the possibility of establishing a multi-hop ad hoc network in the 802.11 infrastructure mode.

The authors propose a technique called mobile ad hoc Wi-Fi (MA-Fi) and compare it to the basic 802.11 infrastructure mode and the 802.11 ad hoc mode. Performance is tested in terms of throughput. They use netbooks, smartphones, and routers to configure the network in the three different modes.

The paper provides good insight into the possibility of establishing a mobile ad hoc network (MANET) using the 802.11 infrastructure mode through MA-Fi when participating nodes are not capable of supporting the 802.11 ad hoc mode and its routing protocols. The authors explain MA-Fi, including challenges and solutions for when MA-Fi is used for dynamic networks, and present a thorough performance analysis (although more insight on the configuration steps, with screen shots, would have certainly helped readers).

This paper will indeed be helpful to readers looking for a way to establish an ad hoc network with devices that do not support the 802.11 ad hoc mode while still attaining performance comparable to Wi-Fi.