Controlling
Access
by
MAC
Authentication
D-Link
Unified
Access
Point
Administrator’s
Guide
November
2011
Page
85
Unified
Access
Point
Administrator’s
Guide
Controlling
Access
by
MAC
Authentication
A
Media
Access
Control
(
MAC
)
address
is
a
hardware
address
that
uniquely
identifies
each
node
of
a
network.
All
IEEE
802
network
devices
share
a
common
48
‐
bit
MAC
address
format,
usually
displayed
as
a
string
of
12
hexadecimal
digits
separated
by
colons,
for
example
00:DC:BA:09:87:65
.
Each
wireless
network
interface
card
(
NIC
)
used
by
a
wireless
client
has
a
unique
MAC
address.
You
can
use
the
Administrator
UI
on
the
AP
or
use
an
external
RADIUS
server
to
control
access
to
the
network
through
the
AP
based
on
the
MAC
address
of
the
wireless
client.
This
feature
is
called
MAC
Authentication
or
MAC
Filtering.
To
control
access,
you
configure
a
global
list
of
MAC
addresses
locally
on
the
AP
or
on
an
external
RADIUS
server.
Then,
you
set
a
filter
to
specify
whether
the
clients
with
those
MAC
addresses
are
allowed
or
denied
access
to
the
network.
When
a
wireless
client
attempts
to
associate
with
an
AP,
the
AP
looks
up
the
MAC
address
of
the
client
in
the
local
Stations
List
or
on
the
RADIUS
server.
If
it
is
found,
the
global
allow
or
deny
setting
is
applied.
If
it
is
not
found,
the
opposite
is
applied.
On
the
VAP
page,
the
MAC
Authentication
Type
setting
controls
whether
the
AP
uses
the
station
list
configured
locally
on
the
MAC
Authentication
page
or
the
external
RADIUS
server.
The
Allow/Block
filter
setting
on
the
MAC
Authentication
page
determines
whether
the
clients
in
the
station
list
(local
or
RADIUS)
can
access
the
network
through
the
AP.
For
more
information
about
setting
the
MAC
authentication
type,
see
“Virtual
Access
Point
Settings”
on
page
70
.
Configuring
a
MAC
Filter
and
Station
List
on
the
AP
The
MAC
Authentication
page
allows
you
to
control
access
to
UAP
based
on
MAC
addresses.
Based
on
how
you
set
the
filter,
you
can
allow
only
client
stations
with
a
listed
MAC
address
or
deny
access
to
the
stations
listed.
When
you
enable
MAC
Authentication
and
specify
a
list
of
approved
MAC
addresses,
only
clients
with
a
listed
MAC
address
can
access
the
network.
If
you
specify
MAC
addresses
to
deny,
all
clients
can
access
the
network
except
for
the
clients
on
the
deny
list.
To
enable
filtering
by
MAC
address,
click
the
MAC
Authentication
tab.
Note:
After
you
configure
the
WDS
settings,
you
must
click
Apply
to
apply
the
changes
and
to
save
the
settings.
Changing
some
settings
might
cause
the
AP
to
stop
and
restart
system
processes.
If
this
happens,
wireless
clients
will
temporarily
lose
connectivity.
We
recommend
that
you
change
AP
settings
when
WLAN
traffic
is
low.
