Please note that changes to these parameters will not take affect until either the radio or the Ethernet Adapter is reset.
A RangeLAN2 Ethernet Adapter may be set as either a Master or a Station using the Station Type parameter within the configura- tion menu. You may also choose “U” for Use Switch to use the value specified by the Station/Master rotary switch. The rotary switch is set to Station by default.
Proxim’s RangeLAN2 products are frequency hopping spread spectrum radios which communicate in the 2.4GHz frequency band. This means that several times every second, the frequency at which the units are communicating changes.
In order for the units to communicate, in each subnetwork there must be one unit that coordinates the frequency hops. This unit is called the Master. It might help you to think of the Master as the conductor of a frequency hopping orchestra. The Master keeps time so all units know when to hop and to what frequency.
Units classified as Stations synchronize to the Master and follow its signal to learn what frequency in the pattern the Master is currently using.
There must be at least one unit on the network designated as the Master. In an Ad Hoc topology, there is only one master, but it does not matter which unit is designated as the Master. How- ever, in topologies where a RangeLAN2 Access Point is present, the Access Point will be the Master and each Ethernet Adapter should be set as a Station.
In small networks where a RangeLAN2 Ethernet Adapter is used as a Workgroup Concentrator, the Ethernet Adapter will be configured as the Master and all other wireless units will be configured as Stations.
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