Motorola Enterprise Series Routers, 6161252-00-01 manual System Configuration

System Configuration 3-39

•Block Wireless Bridging: Toggle this setting to Yes to block wireless clients from communicating with other wireless clients on the LAN side of the Gateway.

•Channel: (1 through 11) on which the network will broadcast. This is a frequency range within the 2.4Ghz band. Channel selection depends on government regulated radio frequencies that vary from region to region. The widest range available is from 1 to 14. However, in North America only 1 to 11 may be selected. Europe, France, Spain and Japan will differ. Channel selection can have a significant impact on performance, depending on other wireless activity close to this Gateway. Channel selection is not necessary at the client computers; the clients will scan the available channels seeking access points using the same ESSID as the client.

•AutoChannel: (only available for 802.11G models). AutoChannel is a feature that allows the Netopia Router to determine the best channel to broadcast automatically.

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

•Off is the default setting; the Netopia Router will use the configured default Channel selected from the previous menu.

•At Startup causes the Netopia Router at startup to briefly initialize on the default channel, then per- form 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 activity. If Access Point activity is detected on the same channel, the Motorola Netopia® Router will initiate a scan of the other channels, locate a less active one, and switch. Once it has switched, it will remain on this channel for at least 30 minutes before switching again if a new Access Point is detected.

Note: Channel scans can be disruptive to normal wireless activity and may take a few minutes.

•Closed System: If you toggle Closed System to Closed, the wireless network is hidden from the scanning features of wireless client computers. Unless both the wireless clients and the Router share the same SSID 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 toggle it to Open, 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.