Chapter 4 Broadband

ericom D1000 modem User’s Guide

46

Constant Bit Rate (CBR)

Constant Bit Rate (CBR) provides fixed bandwidth that is always available even if no data is being

sent. CBR traffic is generally time-sensitive (doesn't tolerate delay). CBR is used for connections

that continuously require a specific amount of bandwidth. A PCR is specified and if traffic exceeds

this rate, cells may be dropped. Examples of connections that need CBR would be high-resolution

video and voice.

Variable Bit Rate (VBR)

The Variable Bit Rate (VBR) ATM traffic class is used with bursty connections. Connections that use

the Variable Bit Rate (VBR) traffic class can be grouped into real time (VBR-RT) or non-real time

(VBR-nRT) connections.

The VBR-RT (real-time Variable Bit Rate) type is used with bursty connections that require closely

controlled delay and delay variation. It also provides a fixed amount of bandwidth (a PCR is

specified) but is only available when data is being sent. An example of an VBR-RT connection would

be video conferencing. Video conferencing requires real-time data transfers and the bandwidth

requirement varies in proportion to the video image's changing dynamics.

The VBR-nRT (non real-time Variable Bit Rate) type is used with bursty connections that do not

require closely controlled delay and delay variation. It is commonly used for "bursty" traffic typical

on LANs. PCR and MBS define the burst levels, SCR defines the minimum level. An example of an

VBR-nRT connection would be non-time sensitive data file transfers.

Unspecified Bit Rate (UBR)

The Unspecified Bit Rate (UBR) ATM traffic class is for bursty data transfers. However, UBR doesn't

guarantee any bandwidth and only delivers traffic when the network has spare bandwidth. An

example application is background file transfer.

ericom D1000 modem User’s Guide

47

C

HAPTER

5

Wireless LAN

5.1

Overview

This chapter describes how to perform tasks related to setting up and optimizing your wireless

network, including the following.

•

Turning the wireless connection on or off.

•

Configuring a name, wireless channel and security for the network.

•

Using WiFi Protected Setup (WPS) to configure your wireless network.

•

Setting up multiple wireless networks.

•

Using a MAC (Media Access Control) address filter to restrict access to the wireless network.

•

Performing other performance-related wireless tasks.

5.1.1

What You Can Do in the Wireless LAN Screens

This section describes the Device’s

Network Setting > Wireless

screens. Use these screens to set

up your Device’s wireless connection.

•

Use the

General

screen to enable the Wireless LAN, enter the SSID and select the wireless

security mode (

Section 5.2 on page 48

).

•

Use the

More AP

screen (see

Section 5.3 on page 54

) to set up multiple wireless networks on

your Device.

•

Use the

MAC Authentication

screen to allow or deny wireless clients based on their MAC

addresses from connecting to the Device (

Section 5.4 on page 56

).

•

Use the

WPS

screen (see

Section 5.5 on page 57

) to enable or disable WPS, generate a security

PIN (Personal Identification Number) and see information about the Device’s WPS status.

•

Use the

WDS

screen (see

Section 5.6 on page 59

) to set up a Wireless Distribution System, in

which the Device acts as a bridge with other access points.

•

Use the

WMM screen

to enable Wi-Fi MultiMedia (WMM) to ensure quality of service in wireless

networks for multimedia applications (

Section 5.7 on page 60

).

•

Use the

Scheduling

screen (see

Section 5.8 on page 60

) to configure the dates/times to enable

or disable the wireless LAN.

•

Use the

Advanced

screen to configure wireless advanced features (

Section 5.9 on page 61

).

You don’t necessarily need to use all these screens to set up your wireless connection. For example,

you may just want to set up a network name, a wireless radio channel and security in the

General

screen.

Chapter 5 Wireless LAN

ericom D1000 modem User’s Guide

48

5.1.2

What You Need to Know About Wireless

Wireless Basics

“Wireless” is essentially radio communication. In the same way that walkie-talkie radios send and

receive information over the airwaves, wireless networking devices exchange information with one

another. A wireless networking device is just like a radio that lets your computer exchange

information with radios attached to other computers. Like walkie-talkies, most wireless networking

devices operate at radio frequency bands that are open to the public and do not require a license to

use. However, wireless networking is different from that of most traditional radio communications in

that there a number of wireless networking standards available with different methods of data

encryption.

Finding Out More

See

Section 5.10 on page 63

for advanced technical information on wireless networks.

5.1.3

Before You Start

Before you start using these screens, ask yourself the following questions. See

Section 5.1.2 on

page 48

if some of the terms used here are not familiar to you.

•

What wireless standards do the other wireless devices in your network support (IEEE 802.11g,

for example)? What is the most appropriate standard to use?

•

What security options do the other wireless devices in your network support (WPA-PSK, for

example)? What is the strongest security option supported by all the devices in your network?

•

Do the other wireless devices in your network support WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup)? If so, you

can set up a well-secured network very easily.

Even if some of your devices support WPS and some do not, you can use WPS to set up your

network and then add the non-WPS devices manually, although this is somewhat more

complicated to do.

•

What advanced options do you want to configure, if any? If you want to configure advanced

options such as Quality of Service, ensure that you know precisely what you want to do. If you do

not want to configure advanced options, leave them as they are.

5.2

The General Screen

Use this screen to enable the Wireless LAN, enter the SSID and select the wireless security mode.

Note: If you are configuring the Device from a computer connected to the wireless LAN

and you change the Device’s SSID, channel or security settings, you will lose your

wireless connection when you press

Apply

to confirm. You must then change the

wireless settings of your computer to match the Device’s new settings.

Click

Network

Setting

>

Wireless

to open the

General

screen.

Chapter 5 Wireless LAN

ericom D1000 modem User’s Guide

49

Figure 19

Network Setting > Wireless > General

The following table describes the labels in this screen.

Table 7

Network Setting > Wireless > General

LABEL

DESCRIPTION

Wireless Network Setup

Wireless

Select

Enable Wireless LAN

to activate wireless LAN.

Wireless Network Settings

Wireless

Network Name

(SSID)

The SSID (Service Set IDentity) identifies the service set with which a wireless device is

associated. Wireless devices associating to the access point (AP) must have the same

SSID.

Enter a descriptive name (up to 32 English keyboard characters) for the wireless LAN.

Hide SSID

Select this check box to hide the SSID in the outgoing beacon frame so a station cannot

obtain the SSID through scanning using a site survey tool.

Client Isolation

Select this to keep the wireless clients in this SSID from communicating with each other

through the Device.

MBSSID/LAN

Isolation

Select this to keep the wireless clients in this SSID from communicating with clients in

other SSIDs or wired LAN devices through the Device.

Select both

Client Isolation

and

MBSSID/LAN Isolation

to allow this SSID’s wireless

clients to only connect to the Internet through the Device.

Channel

Selection

Set the operating channel manually by selecting a channel from the

Channel Selection

list or use

Auto

to have it automatically determine a channel to use.

Chapter 5 Wireless LAN

ericom D1000 modem User’s Guide

50

5.2.1

No Security

Select

No Security

to allow wireless stations to communicate with the access points without any

data encryption or authentication.

Note: If you do not enable any wireless security on your Device, your network is

accessible to any wireless networking device that is within range.

Figure 20

Wireless > General: No Security

5.2.2

Basic (WEP Encryption)

WEP encryption scrambles the data transmitted between the wireless stations and the access points

(AP) to keep network communications private. Both the wireless stations and the access points

must use the same WEP key.

Note: WEP is extremely insecure. Its encryption can be broken by an attacker, using

widely-available software. It is strongly recommended that you use a more

effective security mechanism. Use the strongest security mechanism that all the

wireless devices in your network support. For example, use WPA-PSK or WPA2-PSK

if all your wireless devices support it, or use WPA or WPA2 if your wireless devices

support it and you have a RADIUS server. If your wireless devices support nothing

stronger than WEP, use the highest encryption level available.

Your Device allows you to configure one 64-bit or 128-bit WEP key.

Operating

Channel

This field displays the channel the Device is currently using.

Security Level

Security Mode

Select

Basic

(WEP)

or

More Secure

(WPA(2)-PSK, WPA(2)) to add security on this

wireless network. The wireless clients which want to associate to this network must have

same wireless security settings as the Device. When you select to use a security, additional

options appears in this screen.

Or you can select

No Security

to allow any client to associate this network without any

data encryption or authentication.

See the following sections for more details about this field.

WPS/WiFi

Button

Select the checkbox to enable the WPS/WiFi button.

Apply

Click this to save your changes.

Cancel

Click this to restore your previously saved settings.

Table 7

Network Setting > Wireless > General (continued)

LABEL

DESCRIPTION