PLANET Wire Free Family WAP-1950

11Mbps IEEE802.11 Products

WAP-1950

Wireless LAN Inter-Building Access PointS


Chapter 3 Configuring the Inter-Building Access Point

The 11Mbps Wireless LAN Inter-Building Access Point is shipped with default parameters, which will be suitable for the typical infrastructure wireless LAN. Just simply install the Inter-Building Access Point, power it on, and it is now ready to work. Nevertheless, you can still adjust configuration settings depending on how you would like to manage your wireless network. The 11Mbps Wireless Inter-Building Access Point allows for configuration either via the configuration utility, known as Access Point Manager, TCP/IP (Telnet) connection or Web Management.

3.1 Using the Inter-Building Access Point Utility

Installed on your Windows 95/98/NT/ME/2000 desktop computer, the Windows-based utility "Access Point Manager" provides a user-friendly interface. The Access Point Manager enables you to configure all of your Inter-Building Access Points on the network more easily than ever before. The following gives instructions guiding you through the installations of the Access Point Manager utility.

  1. Insert the Software and Documentation CD into the CD-ROM drive, or the floppy disk that came with your product kit into the floppy drive on your computer.
  2. From the Start menu on the Windows desktop, choose Run.
  3. In the Run dialog box, type the path where the utility is located, then click OK. For floppy installation: A:\setup.
  4. Follow the on-screen instructions to install the Access Point Manager.
  5. Upon completion, go to Program Files and execute the Access Point Manager. It will begin to browse all the Inter-Building Access Points available on the network.
  6. Double click an Inter-Building Access Point icon to access its property dialog box. Enter the password in the entry field. The default password is "default"
    .
  7. After entering the correct password, a configuration window appears. You will see the basic information of the Inter-Building Access Point, such as MAC Address, Frequency Domain and Firmware Version.

MAC Address: It is a hardware identification number that distinguishes the unit from others. You will see the number on the label located on the bottom of the Inter-Building Access Point.

Frequency Domain: The regulated operating frequency per country.

Firmware Version: Displays the firmware version that is equipped with your hardware.

3.1.1 Statistics

The statistics tab contains three of the following items for you to monitor the Ethernet and Wireless network traffic.

Ethernet:

You may monitor the TX/RX on the wired network.

Wireless:

You may monitor the TX/RX of the wireless network.

Wireless Error:

This item offers detailed information on error wireless packets that the AP receives and transmits.

Receive:

Packet FCS Errors: The number of wireless packets that fail during FCS transmission (Frame Check Status when accessing the wired network.

No Buffer: The number of wireless packets that the AP ignores due to insufficient memory.

Received WEP Errors: The number of wireless packets that have WEP encryption errors.

Transmit:

Deferred Transmission: The number of packets that have deferred transmission due to the fact that the medium is busy.

Retry Limit Exceed: The number of packets that are not sent due to the reason that the packets exceed the retry limits.

Single Tries: The number of packets that are successfully sent on the first retry.

Multiple Retries: The number of packets that are successfully sent after several retries.

Wrong Source Address: The number of packets that are ignored by the Inter-Building Access Point because the source client is not in its BSS.

Other reasons: Other reasons that cause errors.

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3.1.2 Configuration

The configuration tab contains 5 following items for you to make changes for the Inter-Building Access Point.

General:

AP name: In this entry field, you may enter any name. This will enable you to manage your Inter-Building Access Points with more ease if you have multiple Inter-Building Access Point on the network.

AP mode: This item enables you to set the operation mode for the Access Points

 

IEEE802.11:

ESSID: The ESSID is a unique ID given to the Inter-Building Access Point. Wireless clients associating to the Inter-Building Access Point must have the same ESSID. The ESSID can have up to 32 characters.

Channel: You may select any of the available channels as an operational channel for your Inter-Building Access Point.

RTS Threshold: RTS Threshold is a mechanism implemented to prevent the "Hidden Node" problem. "Hidden Node" is a situation in which two stations are within range of the same Inter-Building Access Point, but are not within range of each other. Therefore, they are hidden nodes for each other. When a hidden station starts data transmission with the Inter-Building Access Point, it might not notice that another station is already using the wireless medium. When these two stations send data at the same time, they might collide when arriving simultaneously at the Inter-Building Access Point. The collision will most certainly result in a loss of messages for both stations. Thus, the RTS Threshold mechanism will provide the solution to prevent data collisions. When the RTS is activated, the station and its Inter-Building Access Point will use a Request to Send/Clear to Send protocol (RTS/CTS). The station will send an RTS to the Inter-Building Access Point, informing that it is going to transmit the data. Upon receipt, the Inter-Building Access Point will respond with a CTS message to all station within its range to notify all other stations to defer transmission. It will also confirm to the requesting station that the Inter-Building Access Point has reserved the channel for transmission.

Fragmentation Threshold: Fragmentation mechanism is used for improving the efficiency when there is high traffic within the wireless network. If you transmit large files in a wireless network, you can enable the Fragmentation Threshold and specify the packet size.

The mechanism will split the packet into the packet size you set.

Administration:

You may change the default password by entering the new password. Enter the new password in the Confirm Change field to make the new setting take affect.

IP Address:

To enable remote access to the Inter-Building Access Point using Telnet or Web Management, you must assign an IP address to the Inter-Building Access Point. You may also assign other related Internet addressing options, such as subnet mask or gateway address. Consult your network administrator to obtain an available IP address.

WEP:

The 11Mbps Wireless LAN Inter-Building Access Point allows you to create up to 4 data encryption keys to secure your data from being eavesdropping by unauthorized wireless user. To activate and set the WEP keys, do the following:

Disable ·V Allows wireless adapters communicate with Inter-Building Access Points without any data encryption.

WEP40 ·V Requires wireless stations to use data encryption when communicating with the Inter-Building Access Point.

Note: The WEP key must be set up exactly the same on the Inter-Building Access Points as they are on the wireless client stations. If you use Key 1 on the Inter-Building Access Point and the value is (e.g. MyCar), the same must be assigned to Key 1 for all client stations.

 

Upgrade

This item is used for uploading the newest firmware of the Inter-Building Access Point. You may either enter the file name in the entry field or browse the file by clicking the Open File button. For information about the release of the newest firmware, contact your local reseller.

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Access Control:

With the Access Control Table enabled, you can authorize wireless units to access the Inter-Building Access Point by identifying the MAC address of the wireless devices that are allowed access to transmit data. To create or edit the Access Control Table, do the following:

Go to the Access Control tab and select "Enable Access Control". Note that when you enable the Access Control Table without any MAC address in the table, no access is allowed to communicate with the Inter-Building Access Point.·@

Use the following buttons to manage the Access Control Table:

Add ·V to enter MAC addresses of authorized wireless devices one at a time.

Edit ·V to change the entries in the table if you enter the incorrect MAC address.

Remove ·V to remove MAC addresses one at a time.

Clear ·V to remove all MAC addresses in the table.

Import ·V to import an existing Access Control Table.

Export ·V to save the current Access Control Table to a location on your computer. You may save the file as a text document.


3.2 Using the Web Management

The built-in Web Management provides you with a user-friendly graphical user interface (web pages) to manage your Inter-Building Access Points. An AP with an assigned IP address (e.g. http://192.168.1.1) will allow you via web browser (e.g., Netscape Navigator 3.0 ~ 4.5 or MS Internet Explorer 4.0) to monitor and configure the Inter-Building Access Point.

  1. Open your web browser.
  2. Enter the IP address of your Inter-Building Access Point in the Address field (e.g. http://192.168.1.1). You will have access to the Inter-Building Access Point Web Pages of the Inter-Building Access Point.
  3. Enter the password to login to the Inter-Building Access Point. The default password is default. The main page will show up.

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The Inter-Building Access Point main page contains two items for you to manage your Inter-Building Access Point.

3.2.1 Information

General

This item displays the general information of the Inter-Building Access Point such as the MAC address, Frequency Domain, and Firmware Version.

Statistics

This item displays the Ethernet and wireless network traffic.

 

3.2.2 Configuration

General

You may make the settings on the Inter-Building Access Point such as AP mode, ESSID, channel, RTS threshold, fragment threshold and password.

 

WEP

To prevent unauthorized wireless stations from accessing data transmitted over the network, the 11Mbps Wireless LAN Inter-Building Access Point offers WEP (Wired Equivalency Privacy). You can set up 4 encryption keys but choose one key to encrypt your data.

Access Control

 

The Access Control Table enables you to restrict wireless stations accessing the Inter-Building Access Points by identifying the MAC address of the wireless devices.

 

Upgrade

Here, you can upload the newest firmware of the Inter-Building Access Point. You may either enter the file name in the entry field or browse the file by clicking the Browse button.

 


3.3 Using the Telnet

The Inter-Building Access Point can be configured via the command prompt console with TCP/IP:

Telnet (TCP/IP) Connection: Assign an IP address to your Inter-Building Access Point through the RS232 connection or Access Point Utility and then telnet to the Inter-Building Access Point anywhere to get access to the Inter-Building Access Point console. Thus, you will be able to make the configuration via the TCP/IP connection.

  1. Telnet to your Inter-Building Access Point. A window will show up.
  2. Enter the password. The default password is “

 

3.3.1 Basic Commands

The following are the commands provided for configuring the Inter-Building Access Point. In loader mode, i.e., no valid firmware in the Inter-Building Access Point, only the commands with an asterisk (*) are provided.

NOTE: [xxx] stands for optional arguments.

 

info*

Display some basic information of the Inter-Building Access Point, for example, firmware version, frequency domain, etc.

 

stat

Display the statistical values of the operation of the Inter-Building Access Point, for example, association status, LAN/WLAN interface load, etc.

 

ping ip_addr [num_pings] [data_size]

Ping (ICMP echo) to an ip_addr host with optional num_pings times with optional data size in a length of data_size.

 

set

List the configuration information.

set apname | channel | essid | rts_threshold | frag_threshold | ip_address | ip_netmask | ip_gateway

To change factory default settings, type "set xxx (parameter) xxxx (value). For example, set channel 7 command will set the channel to number 7; set essid "Your Network" command will set the ESSID as Your Network. Remember that, a 'save' command is required for changes to take effect. Always reset your AP with the "Reset" command.

The following is a list of parameters you can make changes on the Inter-Building Access Point.

Parameter
Description
Default Value
apname A textual name for the identification of the Inter-Building Access Point. apXXXXXX (where XXXXXX is the last six octets of Inter-Building Access Point's MAC address)
mode Operation mode of the Access Point
essid The ESS ID (a.k.a., SSID) of the Inter-Building Access Point. My Network
rts_threshold The threshold (number of bytes) for enabling RTS/CTS handshake. Data with its frame size larger than this value will perform the RTS/CTS handshake. Range of value: 0~2432. 2432
frag_threshold The threshold (number of bytes) for the fragmentation boundary. Data will be transmitted in fragments which its size does not exceed this value. Range of value: 256~2432. 2432
ip_address The IP address of the Inter-Building Access Point. 192.168.1.1
ip_netmask The subnet mask address of the Inter-Building Access Point. 255.255.255.0
ip_gateway The default gateway address of the Inter-Building Access Point. 192.168.1.254

 

save

Save your new configuration. Remember that the "save command" is required every time you make the new configuration.

set default Return the factory default settings of the Inter-Building Access Point except for the IP addresses. A 'save' command is required for changes to take effect.
cls* Clear the console screen.
exit* Exit the console.
? *or help* Print a help screen.
rz*

Receive a firmware file by the Zmodem protocol. The console will enter Zmodem receiving mode and then use the "file upload" function of your terminal emulation program to upload a new firmware file (ap.img) to the Inter-Building Access Point. Upon completion, always remember to type the 'reset' command for running the Inter-Building Access Point with the new firmware.

reset* Issue a reset signal. The Inter-Building Access Point will be reset if user confirms.

 

3.3.2 Advanced Settings for Security

This section describes the commands to control the security for Inter-Building Access Point. To prevent unauthorized wireless stations from accessing data transmitted over the network, the 11Mbps Wireless LAN Inter-Building Access Point offers the following levels of security options.

Access Control

auth mode | add | del | list| clear

The 'auth' command contains sub-commands that allow you to manage the access control (MAC address filter) of the Inter-Building Access Point. The access control table consists of a list for you to control the accessibility of any wireless stations or repeaters. The sub-commands are listed below:

mode open | allow: set the access control mode. The definition of each mode is specified as follows:

add mac_addr: add an address into the access control table

del mac_addr |index: delete a MAC address, or index an address from the access control table

list [start/end]: display the content of the access control mode and the address list. The optional arguments, start and end, can be affixed to select the range of items to be listed.

clear: clear all the addresses in the access control table.

 

WEP Keys

wep mode | set | list

The 'wep' command contains sub-commands that allow you to manage the data encryption (WEP, wired equivalent privacy) function provided with the Inter-Building Access Point. The sub-commands are listed as follows:

mode disable | wep40: set the access control mode. The following are the definition of each data encryption mode.

set key1 key_text: set WEP Key#1 as key_text. 10 hexadecimal digits (0-9 or A-F) heading by “0x” or five alphanumeric values (ASCII characters, case-sensitive) are required if 40-bit WEP is used.

Example: 0x1122334455, 0x0055AA55AA, abcde, or MyKey.

set key2 key_text: set WEP Key#2 as key_text with a same format as WEP Key#1.

set key3 key_text: set WEP Key#3 as key_text with a same format as WEP Key#1.

set key4 key_text: set WEP Key#2 as key_text with a same format as WEP Key#1.

set usekey 1|2|3|4: Select the WEP key to be used for encrypting data transmission. Only one key can be selected at a time.

list: Display current WEP settings.

Note: Your new WEP settings will take effect after resetting the Inter-Building Access Point.

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