User's Manual
7.4 The Site Survey Panel
The Site Survey panel shows the results of searches for WLANs. A search is carried out
automatically when the utility starts up and whenever necessary to establish or maintain a
connection. You can start a search manually by clicking the
Search button.
Figure 17. The Site Survey panel
Each WLAN found in a search appears on a line of its own in the Site Survey listing. The
information shown is divided into the following columns:
SSID column: The SSID is a name, usually assigned by the network operator, that is shared by
all members of the WLAN. It is sometimes called the network (or domain) name (or ID).
BSSID column: The BSSID is an automatically assigned numeric identifier. On an infrastructure
WLAN, the BSSID shown is usually the medium access control (MAC) address of the closest
access point; on an ad-hoc network, it is usually the MAC address of one of the members.
BSSIDs are shown in hexadecimal (base 16) notation, with a colon [:] added between each
pair of digits to aid readability.
WEP column: WEP stands for Wired Equivalent Privacy, an encryption method that can
enhance network security. WEP can be enabled or disabled. If it is enabled, you must enable
it with the correct settings on your machine to join the network.
Network Mode column: The network mode can be infrastructure, 802.11 ad-hoc, or high-speed
ad-hoc. In infrastructure mode, all wireless stations communicate through an access point. In
26