An encoded information reading (EIR) terminal can comprise a central processing unit (CPU), a memory communicatively coupled to the CPU, an EIR device, and a wireless communication interface communicatively coupled to the CPU. The EIR device can be selected from the group consisting of a bar code reading device, an RFID reading device, and a card reading device. The EIR device can be configured to perform one of: outputting raw message data containing an encoded message, outputting decoded message data corresponding to an encoded message. The wireless communication interface can comprise a first logical communication interface operating on a first frequency channel and a second logical communication interface operating on a second frequency channel. The wireless communication interface can be configured to transmit infrastructure mode beacons. The infrastructure mode beacons can include a service set identifier. The wireless communication interface can be further configured to transmit ad-hoc mode beacons on the second frequency channel. The ad-hoc mode beacons can include an identifier of a mesh path selection protocol. The EIR terminal can be further configured to route MAC frames between the first logical communication interface and the second logical communication interface.