Wireless
Networks
Cisco Small Business WAP551 and WAP561 Wireless-N Access Point
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NOTE
If you are connected as a wireless client to the same WAP device that you are
administering, resetting the SSID will cause you to lose connectivity to the WAP device.
You need to reconnect to the new SSID after you save this new setting.
•
Broadcast SSID—Enables and disables the broadcast of the SSID.
Specify whether to allow the WAP device to broadcast the SSID in its beacon frames.
The Broadcast SSID parameter is enabled by default. When the VAP does not broadcast
its SSID, the network name is not shown in the list of available networks on a client
station. Instead, you must enter the exact network name manually into the wireless
connection utility on the client so that it can connect.
Disabling the broadcast SSID is sufficient to prevent clients from accidentally
connecting to your network, but it does not prevent even the simplest of attempts by a
hacker to connect or monitor unencrypted traffic. Suppressing the SSID broadcast offers
a very minimal level of protection on an otherwise exposed network (such as a guest
network) where the priority is to make it easy for clients to get a connection and where
no sensitive information is available.
•
Security—The type of authentication required for access to the VAP:
-
None
-
Static WEP
-
Dynamic WEP
-
WPA Personal
-
WPA Enterprise
If you select a security mode other than None, additional fields appear. These fields are
explained in
NOTE
We recommend using WPA Personal or WPA Enterprise as the authentication
type as it provides stronger security protection. Use Static WEP or Dynamic WEP only
for legacy wireless computers or devices that do not support WPA Personal/Enterprise.
If you need to set security as Static WEP or Dynamic WEP, configure Radio as 802.11a
or 802.11b/g mode (see
). The 802.11n mode restricts the use of Static or Dynamic
WEP as the security mode.
•
MAC Filtering—Specifies whether the stations that can access this VAP are restricted
to a configured global list of MAC addresses. You can select one of these types of MAC
filtering:
-
Disabled—Do not use MAC filtering.
