3 C O M
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C O N F I G U R I N G A W I R E L E S S D I S T R I B U T I O N S Y S T E M T E C H N I C A L B R I E F
2
Wireless Bridge and
Wireless Repeater
As shown in Figure 1, WDS can be
deployed in several configurations. In
this document, we will introduce two
basic WDS configurations: a wireless
bridge and wireless repeater.
Wireless Bridge
The wireless distribution system
shown in Figure 2 is often called a
“wireless bridge” configuration,
because it allows you to connect two
LANs at the link layer. In Figure 2, the
access point (AP) behaves as a standard
bridge that forwards traffic between
WDS links (links that connect to other
AP/wireless bridges) and an Ethernet
port. As a standard bridge, the access
point learns MAC addresses of up to
64 wireless and/or 128 total wired
and wireless network devices, which
are connected to their respective
Ethernet ports to limit the amount of
data to be forwarded. Only data des-
tined for stations which are known to
reside on the peer Ethernet link, mul-
ticast data or data with unknown
destinations need to be forwarded to
the peer AP via the WDS link.
Repeater WDS Link
Figure 2:
Wireless Bridge Configuration
Figure 1:
WDS Configurations
802.3 Ethernet frame
802.11 four-address format frame
WDS link
