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Cooper Bussmann 245U-E Wireless Ethernet Modem & Device Server User Manual
Rev Version 2.19
IP address configuration (they inherit the IP address of the standard wireless interface).
A WDS router interface allows traffic to be routed to an access point on a different network, and therefore requires
configuration of an IP address to reflect the network address of the destination network. WDS router interfaces
cannot provide the redundancy of bridge interfaces, but can be used to reduce radio bandwidth requirements
because the router can determine the destination based on the IP address, whereas the bridge must go through a
learning phase where all broadcast traffic must be retransmitted on each interface. Routed networks may also be
used in some cases to avoid the overhead introduced by the bridge Spanning Tree Protocol when network loops
exist.
Important Notes
• All access points must be configured on the same fixed radio channel. Auto Channel Selection must not be
selected (see the Radio Configuration page for details on configuring the channel).
• Specify SSID for AP/STA modes or MAC Address for point-to-point mode.
• Router IP and Subnet should be left blank unless that WDS interface is to be on a different subnet. Leaving
these fields blank will mean that the WDS interface will be bridged with the default wireless interface.
• Encryption is not inherited from the main page.
• Each WDS interface can also be configured with a different encryption algorithm. However, each side of a
single WDS link must specify the same encryption algorithm and keys.
• When adding WDS router interfaces, you may need to add a routing rule on the Routing configuration page.
• When VLANs are enabled, router IP and subnet are ignored and the WDS interface is bridged, depending on
membership to a VLAN group.
• Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) column only applies when two or more interfaces are bridged.
• A maximum of 10 WDS connections can be configured. A combined maximum of 5 virtual access points and 5
virtual client/STA applies.
• WPA-Enterprise configuration is shared with the base access point (Authenticator) or station (Supplicant).
WDS connections are made by adding one or more virtual modules to an access point (see Figure 51). Each virtual
module can be configured with one of the standard Wi-Fi operating modes (Access Point or Station) or a non-
standard point-to-point mode.
• Access point and station virtual modules allow for the possibility of dynamically created connections (based on
SSID) and support WPA encryption.
• Point-to-Point mode virtual modules provide static connections (based on MAC addresses), and cannot
support WPA encryption. Point-to point virtual modules should only be used for establishing WDS connections
with third party access points that do not support standard WDS operation.
WDS Connections
The WDS Configuration page is accessible from the Repeaters link on any of the configuration webpages. The
configurable WDS parameters are summarized below.
Add Entry Button
Add an entry to the WDS connections table. This adds a virtual station to the device.
Delete Entry Button
Delete the currently selected entry in the WDS connections table. To select (highlight)
a row, click anywhere in the row.
Connection Mode
Specify the connection mode for this link. AP (downlink) configures the connection as
a virtual access point. Sta (uplink) configures the connection as a virtual client. Point-
to-point configures the connection as a fixed link.
