Chapter 5 Wireless LAN
5.1.1What You Can Do in this Chapter
•Use the BASIC screen (Section 5.2 on page 38) to configure the general wireless settings, such as the SSID, channel and 802.11 mode.
•Use the ADVANCED screen (Section 5.3 on page 40) to configure the advanced wireless settings, such as the RTS/CTS Threshold and preamble type.
•Use the SECURITY screen (Section 5.4 on page 42) to configure the wireless security settings.
5.1.2What You Should Know
Every wireless network must follow these basic guidelines.
•Every wireless client in the same wireless network must use the same SSID. The SSID is the name of the wireless network. It stands for Service Set IDentity.
•If two wireless networks overlap, they should use different channels.
Like radio stations or television channels, each wireless network uses a specific channel, or frequency, to send and receive information.
•Every wireless client in the same wireless network must use security compatible with the AP.
Security stops unauthorized devices from using the wireless network. It can also protect the information that is sent in the wireless network.
Wireless Security Overview
The following sections introduce different types of wireless security you can set up in the wireless network.
SSID
Normally, the AP acts like a beacon and regularly broadcasts the SSID in the area. You can hide the SSID instead, in which case the AP does not broadcast the SSID. In addition, you should change the default SSID to something that is difficult to guess.
This type of security is fairly weak, however, because there are ways for unauthorized devices to get the SSID. In addition, unauthorized devices can still see the information that is sent in the wireless network.
User Authentication
You can make every user log in to the wireless network before they can use it. This is called user authentication. However, every wireless client in the wireless network has to support IEEE 802.1x to do this.
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