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Chapter 6: Configuring the Wireless-G Access Point

The Wireless - Advanced Wireless Settings Tab

Wireless-G Access Point with Power Over Ethernet and Rangebooster

The Wireless - Advanced Wireless Settings Tab

This screen allows you to configure the advanced settings for the Access Point. Linksys recommends to let your

Access Point automatically adjust the parameters for maximum data throughput.

Advanced Settings

CTS Protection Mode

. CTS (Clear-To-Send) Protection Mode function boosts the Access Point’s ability to catch

all wireless transmissions, but will severely decrease performance. Keep the default setting,

Auto

, so the Access

Point can use this feature as needed, when the Wireless-G products are not able to transmit to the Access Point

in an environment with heavy 802.11b traffic. Select

Disabled

if you want to permanently disable this feature.

BSSBasicRateSet

. This setting is a series of rates that are advertised to other wireless devices as defined in

IEEE 802.11 specifications, so they know which data rates the Access Point can support. One of the rates is

picked from the list for transmitting control frames, broadcast/multicast frames, or ACK frames. To support both

802.11b & 802.11g devices, use the Default (

Mixed

mode) setting so that frames can be decoded by all devices.

To support 802.11g devices only, use the All (

G-only

mode) setting to achieve higher frame rates. For regular data

frames, the transmission rate is configured through the Tx Rate Limiting on the Wireless - VLAN & QoS tab.

Power Output

. You can adjust the output power of the Access Point to get the appropriate coverage for your

wireless network. Select the level you need for your environment. If you are not sure of which setting to choose,

then keep the default setting,

100%

.

Beacon Interval

.

This value indicates the frequency interval of the beacon. A beacon is a packet broadcast by

the Access Point to keep the network synchronized. A beacon includes the wireless networks service area, the

Access Point address, the Broadcast destination addresses, a time stamp, Delivery Traffic Indicator Maps, and

the Traffic Indicator Message (TIM). The default is

100

ms.

DTIM Interval

. This value indicates how often the Access Point sends out a Delivery Traffic Indication Message

(DTIM). Lower settings result in more efficient networking, while preventing your PC from dropping into

power-saving sleep mode. Higher settings allow your PC to enter sleep mode, thus saving power, but interferes

with wireless transmissions. The default is

1

ms.

RTS Threshold

.

This setting determines how large a packet can be before the Access Point coordinates

transmission and reception to ensure efficient communication. This value should remain at its default setting of

2347

. If you encounter inconsistent data flow, only minor modifications are recommended.

Figure 6-15: Wireless - Advanced Wireless

26

Chapter 6: Configuring the Wireless-G Access Point

The Wireless - VLAN & QoS Tab

Wireless-G Access Point with Power Over Ethernet and Rangebooster

Fragmentation Threshold

. This specifies the maximum size a data packet can be before splitting and creating a

new packet. It should remain at its default setting of 2346. A smaller setting means smaller packets, which will

create more packets for each transmission. If you experience high packet error rates, you can decrease this

value, but it will likely decrease overall network performance. Only minor modifications of this value are

recommended.

Change these settings as described here and click

Save Settings

to apply your changes, or click

Cancel

Changes

to cancel your changes. Help information is available on the right side of the screen.

The Wireless - VLAN & QoS Tab

This screen allows you to configure the VLAN and QoS related settings for the Access Point.

VLAN

The following options are global VLAN settings for the Access Point.

VLAN

. Select

Enabled

if you want to pass 802.1q VLAN tagged traffic between the wired LAN and wireless LAN.

Your Access Point will map the VLAN tag (wired side) to different SSIDs (wireless side) according to your specified

settings. Select

Disabled

and your Access Point will drop all tagged traffic coming in from the wired LAN. The

default is

Disabled

.

Default VLAN ID

. Enter the default VLAN ID number (1 - 4094), the default value is 1. The default VLAN number

should match with your Switch's settings. For example, the SRW2024 has Trunk port mode which set default

VLAN (PVID) to 1 untagged, while General port mode can set PVID to any VLAN either tagged or untagged.

VLAN Tag

. Set the tagging option for the default VLAN ID. This has to match your Switch's settings. The default is

untagged.

AP Management VLAN

. When the VLAN option is enabled, the value entered (VLAN ID) in this field defines the

VLAN that connects to the Access Point. The default value is 1. The VLAN should be accessible from the wired

side in order to use web-based utility. To access the web-based utility from wireless side, the SSID needs to map

to the same VLAN ID. Remember to enable wireless web access on the

Administration

>

Management

tab.

VLAN ID

. Select a VLAN ID (1 - 4094) for the SSID where you want to map the traffic to on the wired side. The

wireless traffic will not carry VLAN information. Multiple SSIDs can map to the same VLAN on the wired side.

Figure 6-16: Wireless - VLAN & QoS

NOTE:

To use wireless security which requires

RADIUS server (802.1X) authentication, the VLAN

ID needs to be the same as AP management

VLAN ID. We will remove this restriction in future

releases.

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Chapter 6: Configuring the Wireless-G Access Point

The Wireless - VLAN & QoS Tab

Wireless-G Access Point with Power Over Ethernet and Rangebooster

QoS

The following options are VLAN global settings for the Access Point.

Default CoS (Priority)

. Select

Enabled

if you want to assign a default CoS value to each SSID. This option is

automatically enabled when the VLAN option is enabled. The default is

Disabled

.

U-APSD (Unscheduled Automatic Power Save Delivery)

. This option is only available when WMM is enabled

on any of the SSIDs. Select

Enabled

if you want client devices with U-APSD capability to take advantage of the

power save mode. The default is

Disabled

.

SSID Name

. Displays the SSIDs defined under the Basic Wireless Settings tab. If an SSID has been disabled, the

options cannot be configured.

VLAN ID

. Select a number between 1 and 4094 to identify the VLAN. Multiple SSIDs can share the same VLAN

value.

Priority

. You can assign the default priority (802.1p COS bits) for packets coming in from each wireless network

by selecting a number from the drop-down menu. The higher the number, the higher the priority will be. The

default is 0.

Tx Rate Limiting

. You can limit the maximum data rate used in your network to save bandwidth and power

consumption on client devices. The actual data rate is determined by the Auto-Fallback mechanism between your

Access Point and a client device. The default is 54 Mbps for Mixed or G-Only wireless mode, 11 Mbps for B-Only

mode.

WMM

. Wi-Fi Multimedia is a QoS feature defined by the WiFi Alliance before IEEE 802.11e was finalized. Now it is

part of IEEE 802.11e. When this is enabled, it provides four priority queues for different types of traffic. It

automatically maps the incoming packets to the appropriate queues based on QoS settings (in the IP or layer 2

header). WMM provides the capability to prioritize wireless traffic in your environment. The default is Disabled

(unchecked).

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Chapter 6: Configuring the Wireless-G Access Point

The AP Mode Tab

Wireless-G Access Point with Power Over Ethernet and Rangebooster

The AP Mode Tab

On this screen you can change the Access Point’s mode of operation. In most cases, you can keep the default

setting -

Access Point

. You may wish to change the Access Point’s mode of operation if you want to use the

Access Point as a wireless repeater to extend the range of your wireless network. You may also wish to change

the Access Point’s mode of operation if you want to use the Access Point as a wireless bridge; for example, you

can use two Access Points in Wireless Bridge mode to connect two wired networks that are in two different

buildings.

AP Mode

The Access Point offers three modes of operation: Access Point, Wireless Repeater, and Wireless Bridge. For the

Repeater and Bridge modes, make sure the SSID, channel, and security settings are the same for the other

wireless access points/devices.

MAC Address

The MAC address of the Access Point is displayed here.

Access Point

. The Mode is set to Access Point by default. This connects your wireless PCs to a wired network. In

most cases, no change is necessary.

Allow wireless signal to be repeated by a repeater

. Select this option if you want to use another wireless

device to repeat the signal of this Access Point. You will need to enter the MAC address(es) of the repeating

device(s). Up to 3 repeaters can be used.

IMPORTANT:

For the AP Client and Wireless Bridge modes, the remote access point must be a

second Linksys Wireless-G Access Point. For the Wireless Repeater mode, the remote wireless

bridge must be a second Linksys Wireless-G Access Point or Wireless-G Router.

Figure 6-17: AP Mode

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Chapter 6: Configuring the Wireless-G Access Point

The AP Mode Tab

Wireless-G Access Point with Power Over Ethernet and Rangebooster

Wireless Repeater

. When set to Wireless Repeater mode, the Wireless Repeater is able to talk to up a remote

access point within its range and retransmit its signal. Click

Site Survey

to select the access point that will have

its signal repeated by this Access Point or enter the MAC address of the access point manually.

WAP200

Desktop

Access Point

Switch

Laptop

Laptop

Desktop

Wired LAN

Internet

Modem

(Wireless Repeater mode)

Figure 6-18: Wireless Repeater Mode