Linksys WAP55AG Router Manual PDF (Setup & Configuration Guide)

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Instant Wireless

Series

Chapter 6: Configuring the Dual-

Band Wireless A + G Access Point

The Access Point’s settings can be configured through your web browser with

the Web-Based Utility. This chapter explains how to configure the Access Point

in this manner.

Type the Access Point’s IP Address

into your web browser’s address

field. (The default IP address is

192.168.1.246.) (Should you need to

learn what IP Address the Access

Point presently uses, run the Setup

Wizard. It will scan the Access Point

and give you its IP Address.) Press

the

Enter

key and the following

screen, shown in Figure 6-1, will

appear. Leave the User Name field

blank. The first time you open the

Web-Based Utility, use the default password

admin

. You can set a new pass-

word from the Password tab.

The first screen that appears, shown in Figure 6-2, displays the

Setup

tab. This

allows you to change the Access Point’s general settings. These settings are

described here. Click the

Apply

button to apply your changes or

Cancel

to can-

cel your changes. If you require online help, click the

Help

button.

Firmware

. This will display the Access Point’s current firmware version.

Firmware can be upgraded from the Help tab.

Access Point Name.

You may assign any name to the Access Point, which is

how the Access Point is identified on your network.

Unique, memorable names

are helpful, especially if you are employing multiple access points on the same

network. Verify this is the name you wish to use and click the

Apply

button to

set it.

Figure 6-1

The Setup Tab

Note:

The Access Point is designed to function properly after

using the Setup Wizard. This chapter is provided solely for those

who wish to perform more advanced configuration or monitoring.

Dual-Band Wireless A + G Access Point

MAC Address.

The MAC Address of the LAN interface - connected through

the LAN Port - is displayed here.

Configuration Type.

This selection tells the Access Point how IP Addresses

are determined on your network. If you are using a DHCP server on your net-

work to automatically generate different IP Addresses to each device, select

Automatic Configuration - DHCP

. Select

Static IP Address

if each device

uses its own IP Address. The Access Point’s default IP Address, Subnet Mask,

and Default Gateway will appear in the appropriate fields.

Fields for configuring your wireless connections, both 802.11a and 802.11g-

draft are located under this information. You must configure any wireless stan-

dard you are using on your network.

MAC Address.

The first line of data provided about both wireless standards is

the MAC Address of the wireless interface.

Figure 6-2

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Dual-Band Wireless A + G Access Point

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From the pull-down menu, select the type of WEP encryption you wish to use.

If you are using 802.11a wireless technology, you will need to enter the key

manually.

If you are using 802.11g-draft wireless technology and wish to use a WEP

Passphrase, it can be a maximum of 16 alphanumeric characters. This

passphrase may not work with non-Linksys products due to possible incom-

patibility with other vendors’passphrase generators.

The WEP Key can be gen-

erated using your Passphrase

or you can enter it manually.

Type that here.

Figure 6-3

SSID.

The SSID is the unique name shared among all points in a wireless net-

work. The SSID must be identical for all points in the wireless network. It is

case sensitive and must not exceed 32 alphanumeric characters, which may be

any keyboard character. Make sure this setting is the same for all points in your

wireless network.

Channel.

Select the appropriate channel from the list provided to correspond

with your network settings. This should be between 1 and 11 (in North

America) for 2.4GHz/802.11b devices and 36 and 64 (in North America) for

5GHz/802.11a devices. All points in your wireless network must use the same

channel in order to function correctly.

WEP

. The WEP Encryption method is

Disabled

by default. To enable WEP,

click the

WEP Key Setting

button.

Mode.

This option works only for 802.11b and 802.11g-draft devices in your

wireless network. Select

Mixed

and both Wireless-G and Wireless-B comput-

ers will be allowed on the network, but the speed will be reduced. Select

G-

Only

for maximum speed, but no Wireless-B users will be allowed on the net-

work.

Click the

Apply

button to apply your changes or

Cancel

to cancel your

changes. If you require online help, click the

Help

button.

Setting WEP Encryption through the Web-based Browser Utility is done by

clicking the

WEP Key Setting

button on the Setup Screen for any type of wire-

less device used on your network.

This will open the WEP key setting screen. This screen is shown in Figure 6-3

for 802.11a wireless products and Figure 6-4 for 802.11g-draft wireless prod-

ucts. Select the WEP encryption for the type(s) of wireless technology you are

using. From this screen, you can select the type of WEP encryption to use as

well as set the WEP Key for that encryption.

WEP Encryption

Figure 6-4

Important:

Always remember that each point in your wireless net-

work MUST use the same WEP Encryption method and encryption

key or your wireless network will not function properly.

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Dual-Band Wireless A + G Access Point

The

Status

tab, shown in

Figure 6-6, displays current

information on the Access

Point, its settings and perform-

ance.

The information displayed in

these fields reflects the set-

tings that you saved on the

Setup tab. For any information

about what these settings

mean, turn back to the appro-

priate heading in the section

for the Setup tab.

The

Statistics

tab, shown

in Figure 6-7, displays

information on how well

the Access Point is trans-

mitting data. It shows the

amount of data packets

dropped with those trans-

mitted. Remember, some

packet loss is common in

networking.

To update the statistics,

click the

Refresh

button.

Click the

Help

button for

more information about

this screen

The Status Tab

Figure 6-6

Instant Wireless

Series

The WEP key must consist of the letters “A” through “F” and the numbers “0”

through “9” and should be 10 characters in length for 64-bit encryption or 26

characters in length for 128-bit encryption. (When using 802.11a wireless tech-

nology, 152-bit encryption is also available. The WEP key under this setting

should be 32 characters in length.) All points in your wireless network must use

the same WEP key to utilize WEP encryption.

Once the Passphrase is entered, click the

Generate

key to generate a WEP key.

Click the

Apply

button to apply your changes and return to the Setup tab or

Cancel

to cancel your changes. To clear any of the information you’ve typed

but not yet applied, click the

Clear

button.

The

Password

tab, shown in Figure 6-5, allows you to change the Access Point’s

password and restore factory defaults.

Changing the sign-on password for the Access Point is as easy as typing the

password into the

AP Password

field. Then, type it again into the second field

to confirm.

To restore the Access Point’s factory default settings, click the

Yes

button

beside

Restore Factory Defaults

Click the

Apply

button to apply your changes or

Cancel

to cancel your

changes. If you require online help, click the

Help

button.

Figure 6-5

The Password Tab

Important:

Restoring the Access Point’s factory defaults will erase

all of your settings (WEP Encryption, Wireless and LAN settings,

etc.), and replace them with the factory defaults.

The Statistics Tab

Figure 6-7

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Dual-Band Wireless A + G Access Point

Instant Wireless

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The following resources require an Internet connection in order to access them.

Click the

Linksys Website

link to connect to the Linksys homepage.

For an

Online Manual in PDF format

, click that text link. The manual will

appear in Adobe pdf format. If you do not have the Adobe PDF Reader installed

on your computer, click the

Adobe Website

link to download this software.

Firmware can be upgraded by clicking the

Upgrade Firmware

link. Do not

upgrade your firmware unless you are experiencing problems with the Access

Point.

UPGRADING FIRMWARE:

Before upgrading the Access Point’s firmware, be sure to download the

firmware from Linksys’s website at www.linksys.com.

Once that is done, click the

Upgrade Firmware

link on the Help Tab. This will

bring up the screen shown in Figure 6-10.

Type in the location of the

firmware’s file or click the

Browse

button to find the file.

Then, click the

Upgrade

button

to upgrade the firmware. To can-

cel the procedure, click

Cancel

or for more information, click

Help

The

Filters

tab, shown in Figure 6-11, allows you to block and allow certain

computers, by their MAC Address, from communicating with the Access Point.

To enable filtering of computers by their MAC Addresses, click the

Enable

radio button. To disable this feature, click the radio button by

Disable

Type the MAC Addresses for those PCs you wish to allow access to the Access

Point in the MAC Address fields. As long as Filtering is enabled, PCs with

MAC Addresses not entered in the MAC Address field will not be allowed to

communicate with the Access Point.

Figure 6-10

To view a log of

the Access Point’s

activity, select the

Log

tab, shown in

Figure 6-8.

Log.

To enable

permanent

log-

ging activity, click

the

Enable

radio

button beside

Log

. The default setting for this function is

Disable

If you have chosen to monitor the Access Point’s traffic, then you can designate

a PC that will receive permanent log files periodically. In the

Send Log to

field,

enter the IP address of this PC. To view these permanent logs, you must use

Logviewer software, which can be downloaded free of charge from

www.linksys.com

To see a temporary log of the Access Point’s most recent activities, click the

View Log

button.

Click the

Apply

button to apply your changes or

Cancel

to cancel your

changes. If you require online help, click the

Help

button.

For help on the vari-

ous tabs in this Web-

based Utility, along

with upgrading the

Access

Point’s

firmware and view-

ing this User Guide,

click the

Help

tab,

shown in Figure 6-9.

Clicking the names of

the tabs on the left-

hand

side

the

screen brings up help

for those tabs.

The Log Tab

Figure 6-8

The Help Tab

Figure 6-9

The Filters Tab

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Dual-Band Wireless A + G Access Point

Instant Wireless

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When you’ve completed making any changes on this tab, click the

Apply

button to

save those changes or

Cancel

to exit the Web-based Utility without saving changes.

To clear any of the information you’ve typed by not yet applied, click the

Clear

but-

ton. For more information on this tab, you can click the

Help

button.

Before making any changes to the

Advanced Wireless

tab, shown in Figure 6-12,

please check your wireless settings on other systems, as these changes will alter

the effectiveness of the Access Point. In most cases, these settings do not need

to be changed.

The following settings are used in both wireless settings:

Transmission Rates.

The basic transfer rates should be set depending on the

speed of your wireless network. You can select from a range of transmission

speeds or select

Best

to have the Access Point automatically engage the net-

work’s optimum speed.

Transmit Power.

The greater the transmit power used, the larger the area a

wireless network covers. To minimize the likelihood of eavesdropping by unau-

thorized wireless users, do not use more transmit power than necessary to cover

the range needed for your wireless network. Try using the Router at different

levels of transmit power, and determine how much transmit power is needed to

reach the wireless client, such as a PC, or access point that is farthest from the

Router. Then select the appropriate level of transmit power (

Full

Half

Quarter

Eighth

, or

Min

) from the drop-down menu. The default value is

Full

Authentication Type.

This setting allows the Access Point to authenticate com-

munication with the wireless devices in your network. You may choose between

Auto

Open System

Shared Key

With the

Shared Key

setting, all wire-

less devices must have the same WEP keys so that the Access Point and the

client can authenticate each other and start transmitting data. With the

Open

System

setting, any device can join a network without performing any securi-

ty check. The Authentication Type default setting is to

Auto

, which means that

the Access Point will automatically detect whether a wireless device is set to

Shared Key

Open System

, and transmit data appropriately.

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 synchro-

nized. A beacon includes the wireless LAN service area, the AP address, the

Broadcast destination addresses, a time stamp, Delivery Traffic Indicator

Maps, and the Traffic Indicator Message (TIM).

RTS Threshold.

This value should remain at its default setting of 2,346.

Should you encounter inconsistent data flow, only minor modifications are rec-

ommended.

Fragmentation Length.

This specifies the maximum size a data packet will

be before splitting and creating a new packet and should remain at its default

setting of 2,346. A smaller setting means smaller packets, which will create

more packets for each transmission. If you have decreased this value and expe-

rience high packet error rates, you can increase it again, but it will likely

decrease overall network performance. Only minor modifications of this value

are recommended.

The Advanced Wireless Tab

Figure 6-11

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