Client in infrastructure or ad hoc mode

Assigning an IP address to your wireless interface is independent of the 802.11 network configuration and uses the same utilities or daemons as a wired network. The main issue is whether your TCP/IP configuration is dynamically assigned, or statically configured. A static TCP/IP configuration can be applied regardless of the state of your wireless network connection. The wireless network could be active, or it could be unavailable until later. A dynamically assigned TCP/IP configuration (via the DHCP protocol) requires that the wireless network configuration be active, so that it can reach the DHCP server somewhere on the network. This is typically applied in a network that is centrally administered (using infrastructure mode with a WAP).

The most common usage case is that you're a client using a Wireless Access Point to connect to the network. In this kind of network, there should be a DHCP server available. After the 802.11 network status is active, you just need to start dhcp.client to complete your TCP/IP configuration. For example:

dhcp.client -iral0

As an alternative, you could use lsm-autoip.so . Auto IP is a special case in that it negotiates with its peers on the network as they become available; you don't need to wait until the network link becomes active to launch it. Auto IP will assign your network interface an IP address and resolve any IP address conflicts with your network peers as they're discovered when either your host or the peer changes its current IP address. You will be able to use this IP address once the wireless network is active. For more information, see the documentation for Auto IP.

The last configuration option is a static configuration, which doesn't change without intervention from the user. Here's an example of a static configuration that uses 10.0.0.5 for the wireless interface IP address, and 10.0.0.1 for the network gateway:

ifconfig ral0 10.0.0.5
route add default 10.0.0.1

cat /etc/resolv.conf

    domain company.com 
    nameserver 10.0.0.2 
    nameserver 10.0.0.3

The other usage case is an ad hoc network. This network mode is typically made up of a number of standalone peers with no central services. Since there's no central server, it's likely that DHCP services won't be available.

If there are Windows or Apple systems on your ad hoc network, they'll enable the Auto IP protocol to assign an IP address. By using Auto IP, you avoid IP address conflicts (two or more hosts using the same IP address), and you avoid having to configure a new IP address manually. Your IP address will be automatically configured, and you'll be able to exchange TCP/IP packets with your peers.

If you're using a static configuration in an ad hoc network, you'll have the added task of deciding what IP address to use on each system, making sure that there are no conflicts, and that all the IP addresses assigned are on the same subnet, so that the systems can communicate.