Mobile ad hoc wireless networks are generating novel interests in mobile computing. The dynamism in network topology has thrown up multifarious issues, requiring a fresh look into the aspects of system design and networking protocols. As a direct consequence of injecting mobility into a static network, the formal relationships between several governing parameters have undergone changes. In this paper we have assayed the behavior of the ad hoc network as a whole and analyzed trends in the inter-parameter dependencies, with the objective of addressing to the survivability issues. We have finally drawn out an operating region of survivability for mobile ad hoc wireless networks in terms of user declared specifications. Our own simulator has been operative through the work. We have derived our survivability constraints from several runs of the network simulator.