Allied Telesis AT-WA7501 How the Access Point Fits in Your Network, Access Point Environment

AT-WA7500 and AT-WA7501 Installation and User’s Guide

How the Access Point Fits in Your Network

Using One Access

Point in a Simple

Wireless Network

In general, the access point forwards data from wireless end devices to the wired Ethernet network. You can also use the access point as a point- to-point bridge, or if your access point has two radios, you can use it as a point-to-multipoint bridge or a WAP. Use the access point in the following locations and environments.

Table 4. Access Point Environments

Access Point	Environment
AT-WA7500	Use in most indoor environments.
AT-WA7501	Use in locations where an access point is
	exposed to extreme environments.

The access point supports a variety of network configurations. These configurations are explained in the following sections:

ˆ“Using One Access Point in a Simple Wireless Network” on page 21

ˆ“Using Multiple Access Points and Roaming Wireless End Devices” on page 23

ˆ“Using an Access Point as a WAP” on page 25

ˆ“Using Access Points to Create a Point-to-Point Bridge” on page 30

ˆ“Using Dual Radio Access Points for Redundancy” on page 37

You can use an access point to extend your existing Ethernet network to include wireless end devices. The access point connects directly to your wired network and the end devices provide a wireless extension of the wired LAN.

This illustration shows a simple wireless network with one access point and some wireless end devices.

Host

Access point

Ethernet

Figure 6. Simple Wireless Network

21