Specifications

RoamAbout RBT-4102 Wireless Access Point Configuration Guide 1-1

Introduction

Overview

TheRoamAboutRBT‐4102,RBT‐4102‐BG,andRBT‐4102‐EU,areIEEE802.11a/b/gaccesspoints

thatprovidetransparent,wirelesshigh‐speeddatacommunicationsbetweenthewiredLAN

(WLAN)and fixedormobiledevicesequippedwithan802.11a,802.11b,or802.11gwireless

adapter.This solutionoffersfast,reliablewirelessconnectivitywith

considerablecostsavings

overwiredLANs(whichincludelong‐termmaintenanceoverheadforcabling).Using802.11aand

802.11gtechnology,theseaccesspointscaneasilyreplacea10MbpsEthernetconnectionor

seamlesslyintegrateintoa10/100MbpsEthernetLAN.

TheRBT‐4102andRBT‐4102‐EUsupportuptoeight

VirtualAccessPointsperphysicalradio

interface,eightonthe802.11aradioandeightonthe802.11gradio.Thisallowstraffictobe

separatedfordifferentusergroupsusinganaccesspointthatservicesonearea.Foreachvirtual

accesspoint(VAP),differentsecuritysettings,VLANassignments,andotherparameterscan

be

applied.EachradiointerfaceontheRBT‐4102andRBT‐4102‐EUcanoperateinoneofthree

modes:

• AccessPoint–Providingconnectivitytowirelessclientsintheservicearea.

• Bridge(Point‐to‐Point)–Providinglinkstootheraccesspointsin“Bridge”or“RootBridge”

modeconnecting

wiredLANsegments.

• RootBridge(Point‐to‐Multipoint)–Providinglinkstootheraccesspointsin“Bridge”mode

connectingwiredLANsegments.Onlyoneunitinthewirelessbridgenetworkcanbesetto

“RootBridge”mode.

Inaddition,theaccesspointoffersfullnetworkmanagementcapabilitiesthroughaneasyto

configurewebinterface,acommandlineinterfaceforinitialconfigurationandtroubleshooting,

andsupportforSimpleNetworkManagementtools.

TheIEEE802.11a/gstandardusesaradiomodulationtechniqueknownasOrthogonalFrequency

DivisionMultiplexing(OFDM),andasharedcollisiondomain(CSMA/CA).Itoperatesatthe

5GHzUnlicensedNationalInformationInfrastructure

(UNII)bandforconnectionsto802.11a

clients,andat2.4GHzforconnectionsto802.11gclients. IEEE802.11gincludesbackward

compatibilitywiththeIEEE802.11bstandard.IEEE802.11balsooperatesat2.4GHz,butuses

DirectSequenceSpreadSpectrum(DSSS)andComplementaryCodeKeying(CCK)modulation

technologytoachieveacommunication

rateofupto11Mbps.Theaccesspointsupportsa

54Mbpshalf‐duplexconnectiontoEthernetnetworksforeachactivechannel.