Network configuration 23
Powerline Adapter PL500D N150
For operation as an access point, a (transmission) channel must be specified.
There are 13 channels available. We recommend keeping the default setting
Auto
, since in this setting the PL500D N150 selects the channel regularly
and independently. In other words, if the last connected station logs out, a
search for a suitable channel is carried out immediately. If no stations are
connected, the device automatically selects a channel every 15 minutes.
Without encryption, not only are all data transmitted from client computers to
the PL500D N150 in your wireless network without protection, but there is
also no password prompt to establish the connection. If no other security
measures were set up, such as a WLAN filter (see Chapter 'WLAN filters'),
third parties can gain access to your network at any time and, for example,
share your Internet connection. Usually this happens without you noticing it.
To secure the data transmission in your wireless network there are two secu-
rity standards available.
•
The older and weaker
WEP
standard can protect communication with the
help of a key having either
10 or 26 characters
. To do so, enter a series of
hexadecimal characters with the corresponding number of characters into
the
Key
field.
•
The state-of-the-art
WPA
and
WPA2
(Wi-Fi Protected Access) methods
allow individualised keys consisting of
letters and numbers
and the dis-
played special characters
with a length of up to 63 characters
. You can
simply enter this using the keyboard, without having to convert it into hexa-
decimal format first (as with WEP). Under
Mode
, you can limit access of cli-
ents to the PL500D N150 to the method you have selected.
Save all modified settings before leaving this configuration area again.
You should always encrypt the connections in your WLAN. Otherwise anyone
within range could penetrate into your home network and, for example, share
your Internet connection. Always select the better WPA2 encryption method
if possible. Use WEP only if one of your wireless terminal devices does not
operate with a better standard
4.5.2
Guest account
If you have friends or acquaintances visiting and you want to provide them
with Internet access but without giving away the password for your Wi-Fi, you
can set up a separate guest account in addition to the main Internet connec-
tion. The guest account can have its own SSID, time limit and Wi-Fi pass-
