To configure an access point as a repeater, click Repeaters on the menu to display the WDS Configuration page
(Figure 45).
Figure 45 Repeaters
Configuration
Add Entry
Add an entry to the WDS Connections table. This adds a virtual station to the device.
Delete Entry
Delete the currently selected entry in the WDS Connections table. To select a row,
click anywhere in the row with the mouse, to highlight the entire row.
Connection Mode
Specify the connection mode for this link:
•
Access Point (Downlink)
—Configures the connection as a virtual access point.
•
Sta (Uplink)
—Configures the connection as a virtual station/client.
SSID
•
AP Mode
—Specify the SSID that this virtual access point will use. Stations
connecting to this virtual access point use this SSID.
•
Sta Mode
—Specify the SSID that this virtual station will use when connecting to
other access points.
Encryption
Select the required Encryption (if any) for this WDS link.
Encryption Key
Enter the Encryption key (for WEP encryption) or the passphrase (for WPA
encryption). For WEP encryption, the encryption key is set as WEP Key 1. For Sta
Mode, this must match WEP Key 1 on the access point this virtual client will connect
to. For AP mode, clients must configure their WEP Key 1 to the same value as this
key and select the Default WEP Key to be WEP Key 1.
Save Changes
Save changes to non-volatile memory. The module will need to be restarted before
the changes take effect.
Save Changes and
Reset
Save settings to non-volatile memory, and reboot the WI-MOD-xxx-E-5W
module. Once the module has completed the reboot sequence, all changes are
in effect.
There are many ways to setup wireless networks. Often it depends on the devices you want to connect and the
existing network topology. The following sections show examples of how to connect devices into different types
of systems.
Extending Range Using WDS
One of the most common uses for WDS is to extend the range of the wireless network using repeaters. The
diagram in Figure 46 illustrates a simple example where the four access points are all at fixed locations. Each of
the access points could, of course, have one or more client/stations connected. Since the locations are fixed,
there is no chance of network loops and therefore we can avoid the overhead of using the Bridge Spanning Tree
protocol by configuring fixed WDS links to ensure that each access point will only connect to the next access point
in the chain. Any number of additional intermediate repeaters could be added to the chain in a similar way.
