MN-700 Base Station Configuration Guide

16

Wireless Settings

Wireless settings enable the devices on your network to connect to and communicate with the base station

wirelessly. You can establish or change the following wireless settings from the

Wireless

page of the Base Station

Management Tool, shown in the following illustration:

O

Wireless network name (SSID)

O

Wireless mode

O

Wireless channel number

For more information about each of these settings, see the following sections.

Wireless Network Name (SSID)

The wireless network name, also known as the Service Set Identifier (SSID), identifies your wireless network. For

security purposes, it is recommended that you establish a unique SSID for your base station. Do not use the

default name.

The purpose of the SSID is to help wireless clients locate and join a wireless network. A base station broadcasts its

SSID, so that any wireless client within range of the device can detect its presence. If the client sends a response

back to the base station containing the same SSID and the necessary wireless security settings, it can join

the network.

All the devices on your network must use the same network name as your base station. Therefore, if you change

the network name set on the base station, you must also change the name on all the devices that connect

wirelessly to your network. You can change the network name for devices that use a Microsoft wireless adapter

from the Broadband Network Utility. For more information, see Broadband Network Utility Help.

Because the wireless network name is broadcast by your base station or adapter, any user of a wireless device that

supports the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11b or 802.11g standard can attempt to

join your wireless network when that user’s wireless device is within range of it. To help prevent users of

unauthorized wireless clients from joining your wireless network, it is recommended that you enable wireless

security. For more information, see “Wireless Security.”

Broadcast of Wireless Network Name

The base station is set to broadcast the wireless network name (Service Set Identifier, or SSID) by default, so that

wireless clients can detect and join your network. If you do not want wireless devices to detect your wireless

network, you can disable the base station broadcast of the SSID.

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Disabling the broadcast of the wireless network name is not recommended, however, because it is more difficult to

join a network with the broadcast disabled. If, for example, you use a laptop running Microsoft Windows

®

XP

operating system, Windows XP automatically detects and connects to your wireless network when you are within

range of it. When the broadcast is disabled, you might have to manually reconnect to your wireless network after

joining a different network.

If you are concerned about security and want to take measures to prevent unauthorized users from joining your

network, you should enable wireless security. For more information, see “Wireless Security.”

Wireless Mode

The wireless mode determines whether devices on your network can connect to the base station wirelessly and, if

so, the rate at which wireless data can be transmitted between the base station and the network devices.

The data rate varies depending on a number of factors, including the IEEE 802.11 standard to which the devices on

your network conform. Data can be transmitted at speeds up to 54 megabytes per second (Mbps) if all the devices

on your network conform to the 802.11g standard.

There are three wireless mode options available:

O

g performance (fastest)

. Choose this option only if all the devices on your network use network adapters

that conform to the 802.11g standard. Your base station will transmit data at the highest rate possible, up to

54 Mbps.

O

mixed b compatible (fast)

. Choose this option if your network includes devices that use network adapters that

conform to the 802.11b standard. Your base station will use the fastest connection speed available, so when it

connects to an 802.11b-compatible device, it will transmit data at up to 11 Mbps. When it connects to an

802.11g compatible device, it will transmit data at up to 54 Mbps.

O

Disabled

. Choose this option when you do not want any devices to connect to your base station wirelessly. This

disables the wireless radio on your base station. You may want to disable the radio as a security measure when

you cannot monitor network activity for a period of time, for example, when you are away on vacation.

Wireless Channel

The wireless channel is a path through which signals flow to and from your network. The wireless channel for all

Microsoft wireless network products is set to channel 6 by default.

When you experience difficulty sending or receiving information from a wireless device, you may want to change the

wireless channel your network uses. Generally, the best wireless reception is available on channels 1, 6, and 11.

All the devices on your network must use the same wireless channel to communicate. The one exception to that

rule occurs when you want to set the base station to access point mode. In this case, the base station set to access

point mode should be set to a channel at least five channel numbers away from the base station, router, or

gateway that you are using on your network.

If you are having difficulty sending or receiving information on a wireless client, try changing the wireless channel.

Channels 1, 6, and 11 are recommended for best reception.

To establish wireless settings

1.

Open the Base Station Management Tool, and then click

Wireless

.

2.

Type a network name in the

Wireless network name (SSID)

box. The network name is case sensitive and cannot

exceed 32 characters.

3.

In the

Wireless mode

drop-down list, click the wireless mode you want. Select

Disabled

if you do not want

devices to connect to your base station wirelessly.

4.

To change the wireless channel, click a number in the

Wireless channel number

drop-down list box.

5.

If you do not want the base station to broadcast the wireless network name (SSID), clear the

Broadcast wireless

network name (SSID)

check box. This option is not recommended.

6.

To save these settings, click

Apply

.

Security Settings

The Broadband Networking Wireless Base Station is configured to protect your network from the most common

hacker attacks and other security risks. If necessary, you can change the default base station security settings or

establish special services from the

Security

section of the Base Station Management Tool.

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The following sections describe the base station security features and how to customize them.

Be aware that changing security settings might affect whether the computers on your network are able to connect

to the base station and the Internet. You should not change the default security settings unless you are absolutely

clear about your objective in doing so.

Wireless Security

Wireless security helps to protect your network from unauthorized access. Because wireless networks use radio

signals, it is possible for wireless network devices outside your immediate area to pick up the signals broadcast by

your base station and either connect to your network and access your network resources or capture data as it is

being transmitted wirelessly. The Microsoft Broadband Networking Wireless Base Station uses Wired Equivalent

Privacy (WEP) and Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) to help prevent unauthorized users from joining your network or

accessing data that is being transmitted wirelessly.

Both WEP and WPA use data encryption to help protect your network data. When data is encrypted, it is rendered

unreadable by a network key before being transmitted between wireless nodes. The data is readable only by

computers that have the key to decrypt the data. This prevents eavesdroppers from capturing your network data as

it is being transmitted.

In addition, WEP and WPA enforce one type of authentication for devices on your network. Before a device can join

your network, it must provide the WEP network key or WPA passphrase you establish. This prevents unauthorized

users from using your Internet connection or accessing shared network resources.

You can establish the wireless security settings for your base station from the Wireless Security page of the Base

Station Management Tool, shown in the following illustration. The following sections describe WEP and WPA in

more detail.

Note

You cannot enable both WEP and WPA on your network. You must select either WEP or WPA. If you want to

enable WPA, make sure that all the computers on your network meet the system requirements necessary to use WPA.

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Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)

When you enable WEP, you must choose between 64-bit or 128-bit WEP encryption. The number defines the

strength of the data encryption. The higher the number, the more difficult the data is to decrypt.

After you select the wireless encryption strength, you must enter a WEP key. For 64-bit encryption, your WEP key

must consist of ten hexadecimal digits. For 128-bit encryption, your WEP key must consist of 26 hexadecimal digits.

A hexadecimal digit is a number or letter in the range 0–9 or A–F.

You must store the WEP key that you establish on the base station on each of your networked computers. This key

enables each computer to communicate with the base station. If you are enabling WEP for the first time or

changing your network key, be sure to update the wireless security settings for each of your wireless network

devices.

You can update the WEP settings for a Microsoft wireless adapter from the Broadband Network Utility. If you are

using a non-Microsoft adapter, use the software installed with that adapter to update these settings.

To enable WEP wireless security

1.

Open the Base Station Management Tool, and then click

Security

.

2.

On the

Security

menu, click

Wireless Security

.

3.

Under

Wireless encryption

, select

128-bit WEP (strong)

, or leave the default setting of

64-bit WEP (standard)

.

4.

Type a WEP key in the

WEP Key

box. For 64-bit encryption, the WEP key must be 10 characters in length. For

128-bit encryption, the WEP key must be 26 characters in length. WEP keys can contain numbers and the letters

A through F.

5.

To save the wireless security (WEP) settings, click

Apply

.

Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA)

WPA provides 256-bit data encryption to help protect your network data. This is the strongest data encryption

available.

Although WPA is a stronger form of wireless security than WEP, you can enable it only on computers running

Windows XP operating system with Service Pack 1 and the WPA Support Patch installed. You can download

the Windows XP Support Patch for WPA at www.support.microsoft.com.

Warning

Do not enable WPA on the base station unless all the devices on your network meet the specified system

requirements.

When you enable WPA, you establish a passphrase. This passphrase generates a network key dynamically.

You must store the WPA passphrase that you establish on the base station on each of your networked computers.

This passphrase enables each computer to communicate with the base station. If you are enabling WPA for the first

time or changing your passphrase, be sure to update the passphrase on each of your wireless network devices.

To enable wireless security (WPA)

1.

Open the Base Station Management Tool, and then click

Security

.

2.

On the

Security

menu, click

Wireless Security

.

3.

On the

Wireless Security

page of the Base Station Management Tool, under

Wireless Encryption

, select

256-bit

WPA-PSK (strongest)

.

4.

In the

Passphrase

box, type a WPA passphrase. Your passphrase can be between 8 and 63 characters.

5.

To save your wireless security settings, click

Apply

.

MN-700 Base Station Configuration Guide

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Base Station Mode

The Microsoft base station is a router with an integrated access point.

As a router, the base station provides a network address translation (NAT) service, which enables you to use the

single IP address supplied by your ISP to connect multiple computers to the Internet. The NAT also manages

network traffic by directing data to the appropriate destination and by restricting access to your network.

You have the option to turn off the routing capabilities of your base station by setting it to access point mode. This

option is not recommended unless you have another base station, gateway, or router connected to your network,

and you want to use the MN-700 only to extend the range of a wireless network or to add wireless connectivity to a

wired network. In these situations, you can use the base station as an access point to move data only within your

local network.

The following illustration shows the Base Station Mode page of the Base Station Management Tool.

Access point mode does limit the functionality of the base station. It disables the base station NAT and DHCP server

and many base station security features, including the firewall, client filtering, port forwarding, the virtual DMZ

(demilitarized zone), and the base station log.

Important

If you want to set your base station to access point mode, be sure to assign a name to the base station.

When you set the base station to access point mode, it becomes a client on your network and obtains its IP address

automatically by DHCP. You must, therefore, type the base station name in the address field of your Web browser to

open the Base Station Management Tool.