120
Radio Mode
(cont’d)
• Ad Hoc - When selected, the Summit radio uses ad hoc mode
instead of infrastructure mode. In infrastructure mode, the
radio associates to an AP. In ad hoc mode, the radio associ-
ates to another station radio that is in ad hoc mode and has
the same SSID and, if configured, static WEP key.
Note:
The default is BG rates full.
Note:
See “802.11a/g Radio Mode with 802.11g Radio” for ad-
ditional information.
When SCU operates with a Summit 802.11a/g radio, an admin-
istrator can select from the following radio mode values:
• B rates only - 1, 2, 5.5, and 11 Mbps
• G rates only - 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, and 54 Mbps
• BG rates full - All B and G rates
• A rates only - 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, and 54 Mbps (same as G
rates)
• ABG rates full - All A rates and all B and G rates, with A
rates (the 802.11a radio) preferred (see “Preferred Band for
802.11a/g Radio” for more information).
• BGA rates full - All B and G rates and all A rates, with B
and G rates (the .11g radio) preferred (see “Preferred Band for
802.11a/g Radio” for more information).
• BG Subset - 1, 2, 5.5, 6, 11, 24, 36, and 54 Mbps. This should
only be used with Cisco APs running IOS in autonomous
mode (without controllers). For Cisco APs that are tied to
controllers and for non-Cisco APs, Summit recommends BG
rates full.
• Ad hoc mode instead of infrastructure mode. In infrastruc
-
ture mode, the radio associates to an AP. In ad hoc mode,
the radio associates to another station radio that is in ad hoc
mode and has the same SSID and, if configured, static WEP
key.
Note:
The default is ABG rates full.
Note:
See “802.11a/g Radio Mode with 802.11g Radio” for ad-
ditional information.
Preferred Band for 802.11a/g Radio
When the radio mode value is ABG rates full, the 5 GHz (A)
band is preferred over the 2.4 GHz (BG) band. When the
radio mode value is BGA rates full, the 2.4 GHz (BG) band is
preferred over the 5 GHz (A) band.
• Ad Hoc - When selected, the Summit radio uses When try
-
ing to associate to an access point, the radio considers access
points in the preferred band. If the radio is able to associate
to one of these access points, then the radio will not try to
associate to an access point in the other band. The only time
that the radio attempts to associate to an access point in the
non-preferred band is when the radio is not associated and
cannot associate in the preferred band.
When roaming, the radio considers only access points in the
current band (the band in which the radio is currently associ-
ated). The radio will consider an access point in the other band
only if it loses association.
802.11a/g Radio Mode with 802.11g Radio
When an administrator tries to create or edit a profile, SCU de-
termines which radio is operating in the device and populates
the available radio mode values according to the radio type.
Suppose a profile created for an 802.11a/g card is loaded on a
device with an 802.11g card. If a radio mode value of A rates
only, ABG rates full, or BGA rates full was set in the profile,
then SCU displays a value of BG rates full. If the administrator
does not save any changes to the profile, then SCU leaves the
profile, including the radio mode, unchanged. If the admin-
istrator saves any changes to the profile, then SCU saves the
radio mode value as BG rates full.
SSID
Service Set Identifier. Unique name of up to 32 characters that
identifies a particular 802.11 WLAN.
The SSID is attached to the header of packets that are sent over
a wireless network.
Appendix A — EAP Types (cont’d.)
Tx Power
In SCU, Tx Power displays on the Status window to indicate
of the power of the radio, in milliwatts (mW). This value can
be overwritten by the AP; the AP can dictate to the client what
power to use.
WEP
WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) encrypts transmitted data
using 64-bit or 128-bit encryption. WEP, which was defined
with the original IEEE 802.11 standards, is not recommended
because a WEP key can be “broken” in less than an hour using
commonly available tools.
WPA/WPA2
WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) and WPA2 (Wi-Fi Protected
Access 2) are security certifications defined by the Wi-Fi Al-
liance. To earn a WPA or WPA2 certification, a product must
pass a set of tests that elements of the security specification
have been implemented correctly. Since March 2006, WPA2 is
mandatory for all new equipment that is certified by the Wi-Fi
Alliance.
Both WPA and WPA2 include three security elements: authen-
tication, encryption, and encryption key management. WPA
and WPA2 support the same authentication methods and
similar key management methods. The primary difference be-
tween the two is in the area of encryption: WPA defines TKIP
as the primary encryption method; WPA2 defines AES-CCMP
as the primary encryption method.
Both WPA and WPA2 include a Personal version and an Enter-
prise version. With WPA-Personal and WPA2-Personal, which
SCU refers to as WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK, authentication
is done through a pre-shared key (PSK) or passphrase that is
statically configured on every client device and infrastructure
device. With WPA-Enterprise and WPA2-Enterprise, authenti-
cation is IEEE 802.1X, which uses an EAP type. WPA2-Enter-
prise is the equivalent of IEEE 802.11i, the ratified standard for
Wi-Fi security.