ZyXEL P-330W User’s Guide

Chapter 5 Wireless

46

C

HAPTER

5

Wireless

This chapter discusses how to configure the Wireless screens on the P-330W.

5.1

Wireless LAN Overview

This section introduces the wireless LAN(WLAN) and some basic scenarios.

5.1.1

IBSS

An Independent Basic Service Set (IBSS), also called an Ad-hoc network, is the simplest

WLAN configuration.

An IBSS is defined as two or more computers with wireless adapters

within range of each other that from an independent (wireless) network without the need of an

access point (AP).

Figure 19

IBSS (Ad-hoc) Wireless LAN

5.1.2

BSS

A Basic Service Set (BSS) exists when all communications between wireless stations or

between a wireless station and a wired network client go through one access point (AP).

Intra-BSS traffic is traffic between wireless stations in the BSS. When Intra-BSS is enabled,

wireless station A and B can access the wired network and communicate with each other.

When Intra-BSS is disabled, wireless station A and B can still access the wired network but

cannot communicate with each other.

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Chapter 5 Wireless

Figure 20

Basic Service set

5.1.3

ESS

An Extended Service Set (ESS) consists of a series of overlapping BSSs, each containing an

access point, with each access point connected together by a wired network. This wired

connection between APs is called a Distribution System (DS). An ESSID (ESS IDentification)

uniquely identifies each ESS.

All access points and their associated wireless stations within

the same ESS must have the same ESSID in order to communicate.

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Chapter 5 Wireless

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Figure 21

Extended Service Set

5.1.4

RTS/CTS

A hidden node occurs when two stations are within range of the same access point, but are not

within range of each other. The following figure illustrates a hidden node. Both stations (STA)

are within range of the access point (AP) or wireless gateway, but out-of-range of each other,

so they cannot “hear” each other, that is they do not know if the channel is currently being

used. Therefore, they are considered hidden from each other.

Figure 22

RTS/CTS

When station A sends data to the P-330W, it might not know that station B is already using the

channel. If these two stations send data at the same time, collisions may occur when both sets

of data arrive at the AP at the same time, resulting in a loss of messages for both stations.

ZyXEL P-330W User’s Guide

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Chapter 5 Wireless

5.2

Configuring Wireless

Click the

WIRELESS

link

to open the

Wireless Options

screen.

Figure 23

The Wireless Options Screen

5.3

Basic Settings

Click

BASIC SETTINGS

to configure the basic settings of your wireless LAN.

Note:

If you are configuring the P-330W from a computer

connected to the wireless LAN and you change the P-330W’s

SSID or WEP settings, you will lose your wireless connection

when you press Save. You must then change the wireless

settings of your computer to match the P-330W’s new settings.

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Chapter 5 Wireless

50

Figure 24

Wireless: Basic Settings

The following table describes the basic wireless LAN labels in this screen.

Table 17

Wireless: Basic Settings

LABEL

DESCRIPTION

Disable Access

Point

Select this check box to disable the wireless LAN capabilities of your P-330W.

Band

Choose the operating mode of your wireless access point.

2.4Ghz (B+G)

offers the

greatest compatibility.

2.4 GHz (B)

will only allow 802.11b clients to connect to the

wireless LAN.

2.4 GHz (G)

will only allow 802.11g clients to connect to the wireless

LAN.

Mode

Mode allows you to change the wireless behavior of the P-330W.

AP

allows wireless

clients to connect to the P-330W.

Client

mode activates the Wireless ISP mode of

the router.

Use this mode to connect to a WISP or metro-area wireless network.

Network Type

Used when operating in Client mode.

This allows you to switch between

Infrastructure

and

Ad Hoc

networking modes.

SSID

(Service Set IDentity) The SSID identifies the Service Set with which a wireless

station is associated. Wireless stations associating to the access point (AP) must

have the same SSID. Enter a descriptive name (up to 32 printable 7-bit ASCII

characters) for the wireless LAN.

Note:

If you are configuring the P-330W from a computer connected

to the wireless LAN and you change the P-330W’s SSID or WEP

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 P-330W’s new settings.

Channel

Number

To manually set the P-330W to use a channel, select a channel from the drop-down

list box.

Associated

Clients

Click

Show Active Clients

to be shown a list of wireless clients currently connected

to the Wireless LAN

Save

Click

Save

to save your changes back to the P-330W.

Reset

Click

Reset

to reload the previous configuration for this screen.