User guide

Advanced Network Configurations
8-5
Alvarion
If you consider using the option Medium or Small distance between Base Stations
to create a high performance network, you are advised to read the section
Frequency Channel Management as well.
For more information about Base Station density, please consult Optimizing
Performance.
Multicast Rate
The Multicast Rate identifies the preferred transmission speed for your Base
Station broadcast traffic as forwarded by the Base Station. Where transmissions
at lower data rates are usually more reliable, you may prefer higher throughput
performance over greater coverage for your wireless radio signal.
For more information about multicast rate refer to the help-file of the
AP Manager program.
Bridge Parameters
One of the ways to optimize the performance of your wireless networks is to
prevent “redundant” traffic from being transmitted over the wireless network.
Redundant traffic may include:
! Specific network protocols exchanged by networking devices such as
servers, that are not relevant to the wireless stations.
! Broadcast and/or multicast messages exchanged by specific networking
devices such as servers that are not specifically addressed to the wireless
stations.
! “Junk traffic” like for example error messages that are generated by
malfunctioning devices, or as the result of incorrect network configurations
that could have been avoided (for example closed network loops).
Filtering redundant traffic will save the bandwidth of the wireless medium for
the wireless stations, optimizing throughput efficiency for these stations.
Optimizing wireless performance via the
Bridge tab can be achieved in the
following ways:
! Protocol filtering to deny specific networking protocols from being bridged
to the wireless network interface (see Protocol Filtering).
NOTE:
The settings Medium or Small distance between Base Stations require a excellent quality
of radio communications throughout the entire wireless coverage area. In environments
where the actual placement of Base Stations was designed to obtain maximum wireless
coverage with a minimum number of Base Stations, changing the distance between Base
Stations from
Large to Medium or Small will not yield better results. Adversely, doing so
might seriously affect the roaming performance of your wireless stations, risking network
communication errors caused by “out-of-range” situations.