Their deployment is more complicated in fluid, tactical situations where special challenges emerge, and where the price of dropped communications can cause heavy loss. There are a number of requirements that have to be fulfilled in order to complete the life cycle of ad-hoc networks. Ad-hoc networks require mobile devices to stay in touch, while having the ability to move around. The network must therefore sustain itself if other communications devices go out of range, are damaged, or destroyed.

The history of peer-to-peer, or ad-hoc networks goes back to 1972 when they were first implemented for testing purposes in military exercises. The main aim was to monitor the performance of small radio devices in a military environment. Packet radio network was the first development based on the theory of ad-hoc networking.

In 1992, the idea of commercial ad-hoc networks emerged. Later on, it was implemented on a number of different platforms. Bluetooth and ad-hoc sensor networks are some of the latest development of ad-hoc networks.

Communication in mobile ad-hoc networks is normally achieved through other mobile devices in the network. Each node of an ad-hoc network is the destination of some information packets, while at the same time it also functions as an intermediate station for other packets on the way to their final destination. This multi-hop support in ad-hoc networks makes communication between nodes outside direct radio range of one another possible. It's also the main difference between mobile ad-hoc networks and wireless LANs.

Due to the growing interest in the Internet and associated technologies, it becomes important to consider the integration of MANET with the Internet. A mobile ad-hoc network may be connected at the edges to the fixed, wired Internet. In this case, mobile ad-hoc networks will expand the present Internet, and wireless access to the same. A Mobile Internet Router is one of the main requirements for an ad-hoc network to gain access to the Internet. Mobile ad hoc networks must have a router capable of supporting Mobile IP features in order to provide mobility to the entire ad-hoc network and connect to the Internet.