User guide

Wireless Networking Concepts
2-2 Configuring Your Network
Awirelessinfrastructurecanbeusedforaccesstoacentraldatabase,orforconnectionbetween
mobileworkers,asshowninFigure2‐1.
Figure 2-1 Infrastructure Wireless LAN
Infrastructure Wireless LAN for Roaming Wireless PCs
TheBSSdefinesthecommunicationsdomainforeachAPanditsassociatedwirelessclients.The
BSSIDisa48‐bitbinarynumberbasedontheAP’swirelessMACaddress,andissetautomatically
andtransparentlyasclientsassociatewiththeAP.TheBSSIDisusedinframessentbetweenthe
APandit
sclientstoidentifytrafficintheservicearea.
TheBSSIDisonlysetbytheAP
,neverbyitsclients.TheclientsonlyneedtosettheServiceSet
Identifier(SSID)thatidentifiestheservicesetprov idedbyoneormoreAPs.TheSSIDcanbe
manuallyconfiguredbytheclients,canbedetectedinanAP’sbeacon,orcanbeobtainedby
qu
eryingfortheidentityofthenearestAP.Forclientsthatdonotneedtoroam,settheSSIDfor
thewirelessdevicetothatusedbytheAPtowhichyouwanttoconnect.
Awi
relessinfrastructurecanalsosupportroamingformobileworkers.Youcanconfiguremore
thanoneAPtocreateanExtendedServiceSet(ESS),asshowninFigure2‐2onpage2‐3.By
placingtheAP
ssothatacontinuouscoverageareaiscreated,wirelessuserswithinthisESScan
roamfreely.AllwirelessnetworkadaptersandAPswithinaspecificESSmustbeconfiguredwith
thesameSSID.