Weidmuller Wireless Ethernet Modem & Device Server WI-MOD-E-G/A User Manual
Rev.
2.16
www.weidmuller.com
53
There are many different ways to setup wireless networks; often it depends on the devices you wish to connect and the
existing network topology.
The following pages show some examples of how to connect devices into different types of systems.
Example 1 – Extending range using WDS
Figure 41 - Extending Range
One of the most common uses for WDS is to extend the range of the wireless network using repeaters. The diagram
above 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, we can avoid the overhead of
using the Bridge Spanning Tree protocol here 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.
Figure 42 - Site B WDS Configuration 1
The WDS configuration for unit B is shown above (this page is accessible via the
Repeaters
link from the configuration
web pages). Site B is acting as an Access point for Site A, and is a client to Site C, likewise Site C is acting as an Access
Point for Site B, and a Client for Site D. Since this example is a bridged network i.e. all devices on the same IP network
and each link is using a different SSID, there is no possibility of loops (i.e. multiple paths to the same location) therefore
we do not need to incur the overhead of enabling STP (bridge spanning tree protocol).
We specify the devices at the other end of the WDS links by SSID only –MAC addresses can be used to specify point-to-
point links to third party devices which do not support meshing via SSID.
In this example each Virtual connection is using the same Encryption method (WPA-PSK (AES) with a key of “Pass
Phrase”, however as in example #1 the Encryption method and key can be different for each virtual link or even disabled
(no encryption). Also the Spanning Tree Protocol is disabled as there is no possibility of network loops.
