A
portable data terminal (PDT) adapted to participate in a
wireless mesh network including a plurality of peer PDTs can comprise: a PDT module including an encoded information reading (EIR) device, and a
mesh point (MP) module communicatively coupled to the PDT module. The MP module can include a
microcontroller and at least one
wireless communication interface and can be configured to perform IEEE 802.11-conformant
wireless station services including
authentication, de-
authentication, privacy, and
MAC service data unit delivery, and IEEE 802.11-conformant
wireless distribution system services including association, disassociation, distribution, integration, and re-association. The MP module can be further configured, responsive to receiving a MAC frame addressed to a recipient inside the
wireless mesh network, to deliver the MAC frame using the distribution service. The MP module can be further configured, responsive to receiving a MAC frame addressed to a recipient outside of the
wireless mesh network, to deliver the MAC frame using the
integration service. The MP module can be further configured to
route an incoming MAC frame according to its destination address and the frame control field. The MP module can be further configured to cause the PDT module to exit said sleeping state responsive to receiving a mobile management
software (MMS) wake-up command.