ZyXEL Communications MAX-207HW2, User Manual

Page: 59 / 180

Chapter 6 The WIFI Configuration Screen
User’s Guide
60
• Use the General screen (see Section 6.2 on page 63 ) to turn the wireless
connection on or off, set up wireless security, configure the MAC filter, set up
Quality of Service and make other basic configuration changes.
• Use the MAC Filter screen (see Section 6.3 on page 69 ) to configure a MAC
(Media Access Control) address filter to restrict access to the wireless network.
You don’t necessarily need to use all these screens to set up your wireless
connection. For example, you may just want to set up a network name, a wireless
radio channel and some security in the AP screen.
6.1.2 What You Need to Know About WIFI
Wireless Basics
• Every device in the same wireless network must use the same Service Set
IDentity (SSID).
The SSID is the name of the wireless network.
• If two wireless networks overlap, they should use different channels.
Like radio stations or television channels, each wireless network uses a specific
channel, or frequency, to send and receive information.
Wireless Network Construction
Wireless networks consist of wireless clients, access points and bridges.
• A wireless client is a radio connected to a user’s computer.
• An access point is a radio with a wired connection to a network, which can
connect with numerous wireless clients and let them access the network.
• A bridge is a radio that relays communications between access points and
wireless clients, extending a network’s range.
Traditionally, a wireless network operates in one of two ways.
• An “infrastructure” type of network has one or more access points and one or
more wireless clients. The wireless clients connect to the access points.
• An “ad-hoc” type of network is one in which there is no access point. Wireless
clients connect to one another in order to exchange information.
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)
WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) encrypts data transmitted between wired and
wireless networks to keep the transmission private. Although one of the original
wireless encryption protocols, WEP is also the weakest. Many people use it strictly
to deter unintentional usage of their wireless network by outsiders.
Authentication Type