WLA-5000AP Access Point Mode User’s Guide
Copyright Statement No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, whether electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior writing of the publisher. Windows™ 95/98 and Windows™ 2000 are trademarks of Microsoft® Corp. Pentium is trademark of Intel. All copyright reserved.
Regulatory Information Federal Communication Commission Interference Statement This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation.
Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCING THE WLA-5000AP 802.11 A/G ACCESS POINT 5 1.1 OVERVIEW 1.2 FEATURES 1.3 NETWORK CONFIGURATION EXAMPLES 1.3.1 AS AN ACCESS POINT 1.3.2 AS A STAND-ALONE REPEATER 1.3.3 AS A POINT TO MULTI-POINTS BRIDGE 5 6 7 7 8 8 1.4 SET UP THE DEVICE 9 2. INSTALL THE WLA-5000AP 802.11 A/G ACCESS POINT 10 2.1 WHAT’S IN THE BOX? 2.2 CONNECT THE CABLES 2.3 CONFIGURATION STEPS 2.4 SET UP A WIRELESS CLIENT AS A DHCP CLIENT 2.5 A LOOK AT THE FRONT PANEL 2.
4.1 DEVICE INFORMATION 4.2 SYSTEM LOG 4.3 WIRELESS CLIENT TABLE 4.4 BRIDGE TABLE 4.5 FIRMWARE UPGRADE 4.6 CONFIGURATION SAVE AND RESTORE 4.7 FACTORY DEFAULT 4.8 REBOOT SYSTEM 4.
1 1. Introducing the WLA-5000AP 802.11 A/G Access Point 1.1 Overview The WLA-5000AP 802.11A/G ACCESS POINT is an access-point based on IEEE 802.11a/g based 2.4-GHz radio technology. It contains an 802.11a/g and a full-duplex 10/100 LAN interfaces. The 802.11A/G ACCESS POINT can function as a simple Access Point (AP), and act as the center point of a wireless network supporting a data rate of up to 54 Mbps. It can also connect these wireless devices to wired network through the LAN interface. The 802.
1.2 Features Compliant with draft 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g standards with roaming capability. Support of the standard access point mode for connection to wireless clients. Support of the repeater mode to extend infrastructure coverage. Support of the WDS mode for interconnecting LAN segments. Built-in DHCP Server to assign IP addresses to wired/wireless clients automatically. Static assignment or DHCP client to set the device IP address.
1.3 Network configuration examples A group of wireless stations communicating with each other is called a Basic Service Set (BSS) and is identified by a unique SSID. When an 802.11A/G ACCESS POINT is used, it can be configured to operate in the following three network configurations 1.3.1 AS AN ACCESS POINT When configured in the Access Point mode, the 802.11A/G ACCESS POINT allows a group of wireless stations to communicate with each other through it. Such a network is called an Infrastructure BSS.
1.3.2 AS A STAND-ALONE REPEATER The purpose of a repeater is to expand an existing infrastructure BSS. When configured to operate in the Repeater Mode, the 802.11A/G ACCESS POINTs sit between wireless stations and a “root” AP whose BSS is being expanded, as shown below: 1.3.3 AS A POINT TO MULTI-POINTS BRIDGE When configured to operate in the Wireless Distribution System (WDS) Mode, the 802.
1.4 Set up the device The 802.11A/G ACCESS POINT can be managed remotely by a PC through either the wired or wireless network. To do this, the WLA-5000AP must first be assigned an IP address, which can be done using one of the following two methods. 1.4.1 STATIC IP The default IP address of the LAN interface of an WLA-5000AP is a private IP address of 192.168.1.1, and a network mask of 255.255.255.0. This means IP addresses of other devices on the LAN should be in the range of 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.254.
2 2. Install the WLA-5000AP 802.11 A/G Access Point This section describes the installation procedure for the WLA-5000AP. It starts with a summary of the content of the package you have purchased, followed by steps of how to power up and connect the WLA-5000AP. Finally, this section explains how to configure a Windows PC to communicate with the WLA-5000AP. 2.
2.3 Configuration steps This section describes configuration required for the WLA-5000AP before it can work properly in your network. First, it is assumed that in your LAN environment, a separate DHCP server will be available for assigning dynamic (and often private) IP addresses to requesting DHCP clients. This means that the WLA-5000AP normally will not need to enable the DHCP server function. Additionally, since you need to perform various configuration changes to the 802.
2.4 Set up a wireless client as a DHCP client The following will give detailed steps of how to configure a PC or a wireless client to “obtain IP addresses automatically”. In the case of using a LAN attached PC, the PC must have an Ethernet interface installed properly, be connected to the 802.11A/G ACCESS POINT either directly or through an external LAN switch, and have TCP/IP installed and configured to obtain an IP address automatically from a DHCP server in the network.
2.5 A look at the front panel The LEDs on the front of the 802.11A/G ACCESS POINT reflect the operational status of the unit. The status of the LAN, the wireless, and power can be monitored from this display. 802.11A/G ACCESS POINT LED Description Label Wireless LAN POWER Constant Light Link is active Link is active Power Normal Operation OFF No Wireless connection Radio off No LAN connection No Power FLASH XMT/RCV Data XMT/RCV Data N/A under boot-up 2.
3 3. Basic Configuration of the 802.11A/G ACCESS POINT This section describes the basic configuration procedure for the 802.11A/G ACCESS POINT. It describes how to set up the 802.11A/G ACCESS POINT for wireless connections, and the configuration of the local LAN environment. All basic configurations may be effected through a standard Web browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer. From a PC that has been configured as described in Chapter 2, enter the IP address of the 802.
If you are logging on for the first time, you should use the factory default password setting “airlive”. The password is always displayed as a string of dots. Click the LOG ON button to start the configuration session. 3.1 Setup wizard The Setup Wizard will guide you through a series of configuration screens to set up the basic functionality of the device. After you finish these screens, press the “FINISH” button on the last screen to make all your modifications effective. See Chapter 3.1.4. 3.1.
3.1.2 DEVICE IP SETTINGS The Device IP Settings screen allows you to configure the IP address and subnet of the device. Although you can rely on a DHCP server to assign an IP address to the 802.11A/G ACCESS POINT automatically, it is recommended that you configure a static IP address manually in most applications.
Again, as a reminder, it is recommended that your 802.11A/G ACCESS POINT should be assigned a static IP address in order to make it easy for you to manage the device later on. 3.1.3 WIRELESS SETTINGS Network ID (SSID): The SSID is the network name used to identify a wireless network. The SSID must be the same for all devices in the wireless network (i.e. in the same BSS). Several access points on a network can have the same SSID. The SSID length is up to 32 characters. The default SSID is “airlive”.
Note: The available channels are different from country to country and for different WLAN mode. Security Policy: You can select different security policy to provide association authentication and/or data encryption. WEP WEP allows you to use data encryption to secure your data from being eavesdropped by malicious people. It allows 3 types of key: 64 (WEP64), 128 (WEP128), and 152 (WEP152) bits. You can configure up to 4 keys using either ASCII or Hexadecimal format.
802.1x allows users to leverage a RADIUS server to do association authentications. You can also enable dynamic WEP keys (64, 128, 152-bit) to have data encryption. Here you do not have to enter the WEP key manually because it will be generated automatically and dynamically. Note: After you have finished the configuration wizard, you have to configure the Radius Settings in Advanced Settings in order to make the 802.1x function work.
the interval is, the better the security is. 60 seconds is a reasonable time, and it is used by default. WPA Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) requires a RADIUS server available in order to do authentication (same as 802.1x), thus there is no shared key required. The Encryption Type and Group Rekey Interval settings are the same as WPA-PSK. 3.1.4 FINISH SETUP WIZARD AND SAVE YOUR SETTINGS After stepping through the Wizard’s pages, you can press the FINISH button for your modification to take effect.
3.2 Advanced settings The advanced settings tab on the top row of the window allows you to perform modifications that normally you may not need to do for general operations except changing your password from the default factory setting (this is highly recommended for security purposes). 3.2.1 PASSWORD SETTINGS The default factory password is “airlive”.
3.2.2 SYSTEM MANAGEMENT Clicking the System Management button to configure system related parameters to for the 802.11A/G ACCESS POINT. Management Utility Port Definition: The standard port settings for the HTTP Web server and the Telnet utility may be replaced by entering new port numbers in these fields. Management Session Time-out: This setting specifies the duration of idle time (inactivity) before a web browser or telnet management session times out. The default time-out value is 10 minutes.
3.2.3 MAC FILTERING SETTINGS The 802.11A/G ACCESS POINT allows you to define a list of MAC addresses that are allowed or denied to access the wireless network. Disable MAC address control list: When selected, no MAC address filtering will be performed. Enable GRANT address control list: When selected, data traffic from only the specified devices in the table will be allowed in the network.
3.2.4 WIRELESS SETTINGS Beacon Interval: The 802.11A/G ACCESS POINT broadcasts beacon frames regularly to announce its existence. The beacon Interval specifies how often beacon frames are transmitted in time unit of milliseconds. The default value is 100, and a valid value should be between 1 and 65,535. RTS Threshold: RTS/CTS frames are used to gain control of the medium for transmission.
3.2.5 OPERATIONAL MODE The 802.11A/G ACCESS POINT can be configured to operate in one of the following three modes as mentioned previously in Chapter 1: (1) Access Point (2) Repeater (3) Wireless Distribution System (WDS) When configured as a WDS, you need to further configure the name and MAC address of its peer WDS devices.
3.2.6 RADIUS SETTINGS Radius servers provide centralized authentication services to wireless clients. Two Radius servers can be defined: one acts as a primary, and the other acts as a backup. Two user authentication methods can be enabled: one based on MAC address filter, and the other based on 802.1x EAP authentication. MAC address filtering based authentication requires a MAC address filter table to be created in either the 802.11A/G ACCESS POINT (as described in Chapter 3.2.
IEEE 802.1x EAP authentication is enabled by selecting the Security Policy as 802.1x or WPA, and this selection is in the Wireless Settings under Setup Wizard. Enable MAC Address Access Control: Check this option to enable MAC address access control through a RADIUS server. Enable Primary/Secondary Server: Check this if you want to enable RADIUS authentication using the primary/secondary Radius Server. If both are selected, the primary server will be tried first.
4 4. Manage the WLA-5000AP 802.11A/G Access Point This Chapter covers other management aspects of your WLA-5000AP 802.11A/G ACCESS POINT: Check Device Information View System Log Wireless Client Table Bridge Table Upgrade Firmware Save or Restore Configuration Changes Reset to Factory Default Reboot AP What if you forgot the password? 4.
4.2 System Log The WLA-5000AP 802.11A/G ACCESS POINT maintains a system log that you can use to track events that have occurred in the system. Such event messages can sometimes be helpful in determining the cause of a problem that you may have encountered. You can select System Log on the left side of the Device Status window to view log events recorded in the system.
4.4 Bridge Table The bridge table shows all MAC entries learned from the wired LAN interface, wireless clients, and WDS peers (if running in the WDS mode). You can check this table by clicking Bridge Table at the left side of the Device Status window. 4.5 Firmware Upgrade You can upgrade the firmware of your 802.11A/G ACCESS POINT (the software that controls your 802.11A/G ACCESS POINT’s operation).
Step 2 To update the 802.11A/G ACCESS POINT firmware, first download the firmware from the distributor’s web site to your local disk, and then from the above screen enter the path and filename of the firmware file (or click Browse to locate the firmware file). Next, Click the Upgrade button to start. The new firmware will be loaded to your 802.11A/G ACCESS POINT. After a message appears telling you that the operation is completed, you need to reset the system to have the new firmware take effect.
4.7 Factory Default You can reset the configuration of your 802.11A/G ACCESS POINT to the factory default settings. To do it: Step 1 Select Factory Default from the System Tools menu. Step 2 Click YES to go ahead and restore the configuration to the factory default. 4.8 Reboot System You can reset your 802.11A/G ACCESS POINT from the Browser. To reset it: Step 1 Select Reboot System from the System Tools menu. Step 2 Click YES to reboot the 802.11A/G ACCESS POINT. Note: Rebooting the 802.
4.9 What if you forgot the password? If you forgot the password, the only way to recover is to clear the device configuration and return the unit to its original state as shipped from the factory. You can reset the Access Point’s Settings to factory defaults by pushing a paperclip in the RESET hole on the back panel. Push and hold for around 2 seconds until the lights at the front of the Access Point are off. Doing so will clear your current configuration.
Specification Product Name Control Number OS Standard WLAN Network Architecture Type Wireless Transfer Data Rate for IEEE 802.11a Draft Standard Wireless Transfer Data Rate for IEEE 802.11g Draft Standard Wireless Transfer Data Rate for IEEE 802.11b Physical Specification Hardware & Antenna Security Management IP Address Assignment IEEE 802.11a/g SOHO Access Point CA8-4 Linux® 2.4.18 • IEEE 802.11a/b/g • IEEE 802.1d Spanning Tree • IEEE 802.1x • IEEE 802.
