Antaira Industrial Gigabit IEEE 802.11b/g/n Wireless
APX-5700 User Manual V 1.0
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Appendix I - Network
This section provides a more general and detailed explanation on the network operation modes.
The
‘Network Page’ explains how the administrator can setup the device in either bridge or router
mode. The IP configuration described below is required for device management purposes. IP
addresses can either be retrieved from a DHCP server or configured manually. Use the
‘Network’
menu to configure the IP settings.
Network Mode Selections
Network Mode:
Specifies the operating network mode for the device. The mode depends on the
network topology requirements.
Bridge
operating mode is selected by default as it is widely used by the subscriber stations,
while connecting to an access point or using WDS. In this mode, the device will act as a
transparent bridge and will operate in Layer 2. There will be no network segmentation while the
broadcast domain will be the same. Bridge mode will not block any broadcast or multicast
traffic. Additional firewall settings can be configured for Layer 2 packet filtering and access
control in bridge mode.
Router
operating mode can be configured to operate in Layer 3 to perform routing and to
enable network segmentation
– wireless clients will be on different IP subnets. Router mode
will block broadcasts as it is not transparent.
The device supports multicast packets to pass-through in router mode. The router can act as a DHCP
server and use a network address translation (masquerading) feature which is widely used by the
access points. NAT will act as the firewall between LAN and WLAN networks. Additional firewall
settings can be configured for Layer 3 packet filtering and access control in router mode.
Bridge Mode
Bridge Mode Network Settings
In bridge mode, the device forwards all the network management and data packets from one network
interface to the other without any intelligent routing. For simple applications, this provides an efficient
and fully transparent network solution. WLAN (wireless) and LAN (Ethernet) interfaces belong to the
same network segment which has the same IP address space. WLAN and LAN interfaces form the
virtual bridge interface while acting as the bridge ports. The bridge has assigned IP settings for
management purposes.
