Abstract: A peer to peer wireless data communication system includes a number of mobile data terminals operating over a wide area and organized into one more peer groups forming a dynamic multi-hopping mesh-like network. Each terminal operates in a sleep mode in order to conserve power and includes a transceiver to permit the direct exchange of wireless messages containing routing information including a destination address with any other terminal within range, and a processor programmed to prepare outgoing messages and extract the routing information contained within the wireless messages. When the routing information contains an identification code of the receiving terminal, it either presents a received message for local processing in the receiving terminal if the received message is addressed thereto or forwards (relays) the received message to another terminal according to extracted routing information or by computing locally a route to the final destination.