User's Manual
Table Of Contents
- Technical Support
- Trademarks
- Statement of Conditions
- FCC Statement
- Antenna Statement for North America and Australia
- Industry Canada Compliance Statement
- Europe - EU Declaration of Conformity
- Requirements For Operation in the European Community
- Contents
- Chapter 1 About This Manual
- Chapter 2 Introduction
- Chapter 3 Basic Installation and Configuration
- Chapter 4 Management
- Chapter 5 Advanced Configuration
- Chapter 6 Troubleshooting
- No lights are lit on the access point.
- The Wireless LAN activity light does not light up.
- The LAN light is not lit.
- I cannot access the Internet or the LAN with a wireless capable computer.
- I cannot connect to the WG102 to configure it.
- When I enter a URL or IP address I get a timeout error.
- Using the Reset Button to Restore Factory Default Settings
- Appendix A Specifications
- Appendix B Wireless Networking Basics
- Index
Reference Manual for the NETGEAR WG102 ProSafe 802.11g Wireless Access Point
B-2 Wireless Networking Basics
October 2004
Ad Hoc Mode (Peer-to-Peer Workgroup)
In an ad hoc network, computers are brought together as needed; thus, there is no structure or fixed
points to the network - each node can generally communicate with any other node. There is no
Access Point involved in this configuration. This mode enables you to quickly set up a small
wireless workgroup and allows workgroup members to exchange data or share printers as
supported by Microsoft networking in the various Windows operating systems. Some vendors also
refer to ad hoc networking as peer-to-peer group networking.
In this configuration, network packets are directly sent and received by the intended transmitting
and receiving stations. As long as the stations are within range of one another, this is the easiest
and least expensive way to set up a wireless network.
Network Name: Extended Service Set Identification (ESSID)
The Extended Service Set Identification (ESSID) is one of two types of Service Set Identification
(SSID). In an ad hoc wireless network with no access points, the Basic Service Set Identification
(BSSID) is used. In an infrastructure wireless network that includes an access point, the ESSID is
used, but may still be referred to as SSID.
An SSID is a thirty-two character (maximum) alphanumeric key identifying the name of the
wireless local area network. Some vendors refer to the SSID as network name. For the wireless
devices in a network to communicate with each other, all devices must be configured with the
same SSID.
The ESSID is usually broadcast in the air from an access point. The wireless station sometimes can
be configured with the ESSID ANY. This means the wireless station will try to associate with
whichever access point has the stronger radio frequency (RF) signal, providing that both the access
point and wireless station use Open System authentication.
Authentication and WEP Data Encryption
The absence of a physical connection between nodes makes the wireless links vulnerable to
eavesdropping and information theft. To provide a certain level of security, the IEEE 802.11
standard has defined these two types of authentication methods:
• Open System. With Open System authentication, a wireless computer can join any network
and receive any messages that are not encrypted.