Devices go through a wireless negotiation process, called association, with an access point in order to participate in the Wi-Fi network and infrastructure mode, as illustrated in Figure 9.7 below:
Figure 9.7 – Wireless Association Process
In order to accomplish this association, the client device sends a probe request on the network to find the access point. The access point that receives the probe request will send a probe response, and then the client will initiate the association, which will be accepted or rejected by the access point. If the association is successful, the access point will install the client’s MAC address. The wireless association process is very similar to a DHCP handshake.