Chapter 9 Other Wireless Configuration

The following table describes the labels in this screen.

Table 41 MAC Address Filter

LABEL

DESCRIPTION

Profile Name

Type a name to identify this profile.

 

 

Filter Action

Define the filter action for the list of MAC addresses in the MAC address filter

 

table.

 

Select Deny Association to block access to the router. MAC addresses not

 

listed will be allowed to access the router.

 

Select Allow Association to permit access to the router. MAC addresses not

 

listed will be denied access to the router.

 

 

MAC Address

Enter the MAC addresses (in XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX format) of the wireless

 

station to be allowed or denied access to the ZyXEL Device.

 

 

Description

Type a name to identify this wireless station.

 

 

Apply

Click Apply to save your changes.

 

 

Reset

Click Reset to begin configuring this screen afresh.

 

 

"To activate MAC filtering on an SSID profile, select the correct filter from the Enable MAC Filtering drop-down list box in the WIRELESS > SSID > Edit screen and click Apply.

9.5Configuring Roaming

A wireless station is a device with an IEEE 802.11a/b/g compliant wireless interface. An access point (AP) acts as a bridge between the wireless and wired networks. An AP creates its own wireless coverage area. A wireless station can associate with a particular access point only if it is within the access point’s coverage area.

In a network environment with multiple access points, wireless stations are able to switch from one access point to another as they move between the coverage areas. This is known as roaming. As the wireless station moves from place to place, it is responsible for choosing the most appropriate access point depending on the signal strength, network utilization or other factors.

The roaming feature on the access points allows the access points to relay information about the wireless stations to each other. When a wireless station moves from a coverage area to another, it scans and uses the channel of a new access point, which then informs the other access points on the LAN about the change. An example is shown in Figure 77 on page 131.

With roaming, a wireless LAN mobile user enjoys a continuous connection to the wired network through an access point while moving around the wireless LAN.

Enable roaming to exchange the latest bridge information of all wireless stations between APs when a wireless station moves between coverage areas. Wireless stations can still associate with other APs even if you disable roaming. Enabling roaming ensures correct traffic forwarding (bridge tables are updated) and maximum AP efficiency. The AP deletes records of wireless stations that associate with other APs (Non-ZyXEL APs may not be able to perform this). 802.1x authentication information is not exchanged (at the time of writing).

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ZyXEL NWA-3160 Series User’s Guide