Motorola 3397GP manual AutoChannel Setting

close to this Router. Channel selection is not necessary at the client computers; the clients will scan the available channels seeking access points using the same SSID as the client.

AutoChannel Setting

For 802.11G models, AutoChannel is a feature that allows the Motorola Netopia® Gateway to deter- mine the best channel to broadcast automatically.

Three settings are available from the pull-down menu: Off-Use default, At Startup, and Continuous.

❑Off-Use default: the Motorola Netopia® Gateway will use the configured default channel selected from the previous pull-down menu.

❑At Startup – the default setting – causes the Motorola Netopia® Gateway at startup to briefly initial- ize on the default channel, then perform a full two- to three-second scan, and switch to the best channel it can find, remaining on that channel until the next reboot.

❑Continuous performs the at-startup scan, and will continuously monitor the current channel for any other Access Point beacons. If an Access Point beacon is detected on the same channel, the Motor- ola Netopia® Gateway will initiate a three- to four-minute scan of the channels, locate a better one, and switch. Once it has switched, it will remain on this channel for at least 30 minutes before switching again if another Access Point is detected.

Enable Closed System Mode

If enabled, Closed System Mode hides the wireless network from the scanning features of wireless cli- ent computers. Unless both the wireless clients and the Router share the same Wireless ID in Closed System mode, the Router’s wireless LAN will not appear as an available network when scanned for by wireless-enabled computers. Members of the Closed System WLAN must log onto the Router’s wireless network with the identical SSID as that configured in the router.

Closed System mode is an ideal way to increase wireless security and to prevent casual detection by unwanted neighbors, office users, or malicious users such as hackers.

If you do not enable Closed System Mode, it is more convenient, but potentially less secure, for clients to access your WLAN by scanning available access points. You must decide based on your own network requirements.

About Closed System Mode and Wireless Encryption

Enabling Closed System Mode on your wireless Router provides another level of security, since your wireless LAN will no longer appear as an available access point to client PCs that are casually scanning for one.

Your own wireless network clients, however, must log into the wireless LAN by using the exact SSID of the Motorola Netopia® Router.

In addition, if you have enabled WEP or WPA encryption on the Motorola Netopia® Router, your network clients must also have WEP or WPA encryption enabled, and must have the same WEP or WPA encryp-

tion key as the Motorola Netopia® Router.

Once the Motorola Netopia® Gateway is located by a client computer, by setting the client to a matching SSID, the client can connect immediately if WEP or WPA is not enabled. If WEP or WPA is enabled then the client must also have WEP or WPA enabled and a matching WEP or WPA key.

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