Configuring the Wireless Distribution System (WDS)

The U.S. Robotics Professional Access Point lets you connect multiple access points using a Wireless Distribution System (WDS). WDS allows access points to communicate with one another wirelessly in a standardized way. This capability is critical in providing a seamless experience for roaming clients and for managing multiple wireless networks. It can also simplify the network infrastructure by reducing the amount of cabling required.

For more detailed explanation of WDS concepts, see Understanding the Wireless Distribution System in the Administrators Guide.

Configuring WDS Settings

The following notes summarize some critical guidelines regarding WDS configuration. Please read all the notes before proceeding with WDS configuration.

Notes

The only security mode available on the WDS link is Static WEP, which is not particularly secure. Therefore, we recommend using WDS to bridge the Guest network only for this release. Do not use WDS to bridge access points on the Internal network unless you are not concerned about the security risk for data traffic on that network. When using WDS, be sure to configure WDS settings on both access points participating in the WDS link. You can have only one WDS link between any pair of access points. That is, a remote MAC address may appear only once on the WDS page for a particular access point. Both access points participating in a WDS link must be on the same Radio channel and using the same IEEE 802.11 mode. (See Configuring Radio Settings for information on configuring the Radio mode and channel.) Do not create loops with either WDS bridges or combinations of Wired (Ethernet) connections and WDS bridges. Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), which manages path redundancy and prevent unwanted loops, is not enabled for this release. Keep these rules in mind when working with WDS on this release of the U.S. Robotics Professional Access Point: Any two access points can be connected by only a single path; either a WDS bridge (wireless) or an Ethernet connection (wired), but not both. Do not create "backup" links. If you can trace more than one path between any pair of APs going through any combination of Ethernet or WDS links, you have a loop. You can only extend or bridge either the Internal or Guest network but not both.

To configure WDS on this access point, describe each AP intended to receive hand-offs and send information to this AP. Each destination AP needs the following description

Field	Description
Local Address	Indicates the Media Access Control (MAC) addresses for this access point. A MAC address is a permanent, unique hardware address for any device that represents an interface to the network. The MAC address is assigned by the manufacturer. You cannot change the MAC address. It is provided here for informational purposes as a unique identifier for the access point or interface. A single MAC address is shown at the top of the WDS settings page. The address shown for the one-radio AP is the MAC address for the bridge (br0). This is the address by which the AP is known externally to other networks.
Remote Address	Specify the MAC address of the destination access point; that is, the access point to which data will be sent or "handed-off" and from which data will be received.
Bridge with	The U.S. Robotics Professional Access Point provides the capability of setting up guest and internal networks on the same access point. (See Setting up Guest Access.) The guest network typically provides internet access but isolates guest clients from more sensitive areas of your internal network. It is common to have security disabled on the guest network to provide open access. Alternatively, the internal network provides full access to protected information behind a firewall and requires secure logins or certificates for access. When using WDS to link up one access point to another, you need to identify within which of these networks you want the data exchange to occur. Specify the network to which you want to bridge this access point: Internal Network Guest Network
WEP	Specify whether you want Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption enabled for the WDS link. Enabled Disabled Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is a data encryption protocol for 802.11 wireless networks. Both access points on the WDS link must be configured with the same security settings. For static WEP, a static 64-bit (40-bit secret key + 24-bit initialization vector (IV)) or 128-bit (104-bit secret key + 24-bit IV) Shared Key for data encryption.
Key Length	If WEP is enabled, specify the length of the WEP key: 64 bits 128 bits
Key Type	If WEP is enabled, specify the WEP key type: ASCII Hex
Characters Required	Indicates the number of characters required in the WEP key. The number of characters required updates automatically based on how you set Key Length and Key Type.
WEP Key	Enter a string of characters. If you selected "ASCII", enter any combination of 0-9, a-z, and A-Z. If you selected "HEX", enter hexadecimal digits (any combination of 0-9 and a-f or A-F). These are the RC4 encryption keys shared with the stations using the access point.

Updating Settings

To apply your changes, click Update.

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