User's Manual

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When the AP is in AP Client mode, you can use the Link Monitor status page to monitor the link
quality and signal strength sensed by its RF module. Larger values means better wireless connectivity
to its associated Access Point. This feature is especially useful when you are aligning a pair of direc-
tional antennas for bridging applications. Refer to Section 2.5 for more information about antenna
alignment.
NOTE: The values are updated every 20 seconds.
3.3. General Operations
3.3.1. Specifying Operational Mode
Fig. 20. Operational modes settings.
The AP supports 2 operational modes:
 AP/Bridge. This mode provides both Access Point and Static LAN-to-LAN Bridging
functionality. The static LAN-to-LAN bridging function is supported through Wireless
Distribution System (WDS).
 AP Client. This mode is for Dynamic LAN-to-LAN Bridging. The AP Client automati-
cally establishes bridge links with APs from any vendors.
In either mode, the AP forwards packets between its Ethernet interface and wireless interface for
wired hosts on the Ethernet side and wireless host(s) on the wireless side.
There are 2 types of wireless links as specified by the IEEE 802.11 standard.
 STA-AP. This type of wireless link is established between an IEEE 802.11 Station (STA)
and an IEEE 802.11 Access Point (AP). An STA is usually a client computer (PC or PDA)
with a WLAN network interface card (NIC). The AP Client mode is actually an STA.
 WDS. This type of wireless link is established between two IEEE 802.11 APs. Wireless
packets transmitted along the WDS link comply with the IEEE 802.11 WDS (Wireless
Distribution System) format at the link layer.
The relationships among the operational modes and the wireless link types are shown in the following
table:
Table 2. Operational modes vs. wireless link types.
AP/Bridge AP Client