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245U-E Wireless Ethernet Modem User Manual
Rev Version 2.24
A WDS bridge interface allows traffic to be bridged to another access point on the same IP network. WDS
bridge interfaces do not require additional IP address configuration because they are bridged with the
standard wireless interface that is used for connections to associated clients. All of the WDS interfaces on
the one access point may be bridged if required.
WDS bridge interfaces have the advantage that redundant paths are permitted when using the bridge
Spanning Tree Protocol (see “3.5 Spanning Tree Algorithm”), thus behaving as a self-healing mesh network.
Bridged networks are also not as difficult to configure as routed networks because WDS bridge interfaces
generally do not require 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.
