SMC Networks SMC2582W-B manual Lowing table Operational modes vs. wireless link types

The SMC2582W-B supports 3 operational modes for meeting various wireless connectivity require- ments:

•Access Point (AP). The AP mode enables IEEE 802.11 Stations (STAs) to automatically associate with it via the standard IEEE 802.11 association process. In addition, the IEEE 802.11 WDS (Wireless Distribution System) technology can be used to manually establish wireless links between two APs or between an AP and a Bridge Master.

•Bridge Master (BM). Use this mode to provide the Bridge Master functionality of the SMC2682W.The Bridge Master mode is designed to work in those networks where SMC2682W Wireless Bridge Slaves are already installed.The Bridge Master enables Bridge Slaves to automatically associate with it. It also enables IEEE 802.11 Stations, which are on the same LAN as the Bridge Master, to automatically associate with it via the standard IEEE 802.11 association process. In addition, the IEEE 802.11 WDS (Wireless Distribution System) technology can be used to manually establish wireless links between two Bridge Masters or between a Bridge Master and an AP.

•Bridge Slave (BS). Use this mode to provide the Bridge Slave functionality of the SMC2682W. The Bridge Slave mode is designed to work in those networks where SMC2682W Wireless Bridge Masters are already installed.

In any mode, the SMC2582W-B forwards packets between its Ethernet interface and wireless inter- face for wired hosts on the Ethernet side and wireless host(s) on the wireless side.

There are 2 types of wireless links between two SMC2582W-Bs or between an SMC2582W-B and another wireless device.

•WDS. This type of wireless link is specified in the IEEE 802.11 standard for communication between two IEEE 802.11 APs.Wireless packets transmitted along the WDS link comply with the IEEE 802.11 WDS (Wireless Distribution System) format at the link layer.

•BM-BS. This type of wireless link is used in the SMC2682W for providing LAN-to-LAN bridging services.To establish this type of wireless link between two SMC2682W, one SMC2682W must be in Bridge Master (BM) mode and the other must be in Bridge Slave (BS) mode.The SMC2582W-B provides this type of wireless link for backward compatibility with the SMC2682W.

The relationships among the operational modes and the wireless link types are shown in the fol

lowing table:

Table 1. Operational modes vs. wireless link types.

From the table, a WDS link can be establish between two APs, a BM-BS link can be established be- tween a Bridge Master and a Bridge Slave, but no wireless link can be established between a Bridge Slave and an AP.

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