Configuring Radio Settings

Radio settings directly control the behavior of the radio device in the access point and its interaction with the physical medium; that is, how/what type of electromagnetic waves the AP emits. You can specify whether the radio is on or off, radio frequency (RF) broadcast channel, beacon interval (amount of time between AP beacon transmissions), transmit power, IEEE 802.11 mode in which the radio operates, and so on.


Field	Description
Status (On/Off)	Specify whether you want the radio on or off by clicking On or Off.
Mode	The Mode defines the Physical Layer (PHY) standard being used by the radio The U.S. Robotics Professional Access Point is available as a single band access point. The following modes are available: IEEE 802.11b IEEE 802.11g Atheros Turbo 2.4 GHz Atheros Dynamic Turbo 2.4 GHz
Super G	Enabling Super G provides better performance by increasing radio throughput for an radio mode (IEEE 802.11b, and g). Keep in mind that, with Super G enabled, the access point transmissions will consume more bandwidth. To enable Super G click Enabled. To disable Super G click Disabled.
Channel	The Channel defines the portion of the radio spectrum that the radio uses for transmitting and receiving. The range of channels and the default channel are determined by the Mode of the radio interface. For most Modes, the default is "Auto". Auto is the recommended mode because it automatically detects the best channel choices based on signal strength, traffic loads, and so on.
Beacon Interval	Beacon frames are transmitted by an access point at regular intervals to announce the existence of the wireless network. The default behavior is to send a beacon frame once every 100 milliseconds (or 10 per second). The Beacon Interval value is set in milliseconds. Enter a value from 20 to 2000.
DTIM Period	The Delivery Traffic Information Map (DTIM) message is an element included in some Beacon frames. It indicates which client stations, currently sleeping in low-power mode, have data buffered on the access point awaiting pick-up. The DTIM period you specify here indicates how often the clients served by this access point should check for buffered data still on the AP awaiting pickup. Specify a DTIM period within the given range (1 - 255). The measurement is in beacons. For example, if you set this to "1" clients will check for buffered data on the AP at every beacon. If you set this to "2", clients will check on every other beacon. If you set this to 10, clients will check on every 10th beacon.
Fragmentation Threshold	Specify a number between 256 and 2,346 to set the frame size threshold in bytes. The fragmentation threshold is a way of limiting the size of packets (frames) transmitted over the network. If a packet exceeds the fragmentation threshold set here, the fragmentation function will be activated and the packet will be sent as multiple 802.11 frames. If the packet being transmitted is equal to or less than the threshold, fragmentation will not be used. Setting the threshold to the largest value (2,346 bytes) effectively disables fragmentation. Fragmentation involves more overhead both because of the extra work of dividing up and reassembling of frames it requires, and because it increases message traffic on the network. However, fragmentation can help improve network performance and reliability if properly configured. Sending smaller frames (by using lower fragmentation threshold) may help with some interference problems; for example, with microwave ovens. By default, fragmentation is off. We recommend not using fragmentation unless you suspect radio interference. The additional headers applied to each fragment increase the overhead on the network and can greatly reduce throughput.
RTS Threshold	Specify an RTS Threshold value between 0 and 2347. The RTS threshold specifies the packet size of a request to send (RTS) transmission. This helps control traffic flow through the access point, especially one with a lot of clients. If you specify a low threshold value, RTS packets will be sent more frequently. This will consume more bandwidth and reduce the throughput of the packet. On the other hand, sending more RTS packets can help the network recover from interference or collisions which might occur on a busy network, or on a network experiencing electromagnetic interference.
Maximum Stations	Specify the maximum number of stations allowed to access this access point at any one time. You can enter a value between 0 and 2007.
Transmit Power	Provide a percentage value to set the transmit power for this access point. The default is to have the access point transmit using 100 percent of its power. Recommendations: For most cases, we recommend keeping the default and having the transmit power set to 100 percent. This is more cost-efficient as it gives the access point a maximum broadcast range, and reduces the number of APs needed. To increase capacity of the network, place APs closer together and reduce the value of the transmit power. This will help reduce overlap and interference among APs. A lower transmit power setting can also keep your network more secure because weaker wireless signals are less likely to propagate outside of the physical location of your network.
Rate Sets	Check the transmission rate sets you want the access point to support and the basic rate sets you want the access point to advertise. Rates are expressed in megabits per second. Supported Rate Sets indicate rates that the access point supports. You can check multiple rates (click a checkbox to select or de-select a rate). The AP will automatically choose the most efficient rate based on factors like error rates and distance of client stations from the AP. Basic Rate Sets indicate rates that the access point will advertise to the network for the purposes of setting up communication with other APs and client stations on the network. It is generally more efficient to have an AP broadcast a subset of its supported rate sets.

Configuring Radio Settings

Updating Settings