User's Manual

exactly the same SSID as the SSID entered in this sub-tab. The tightest level of

network access control is implemented in Level 3, [Hide SSID, Match SSID, Use

Allowed List], add one additional criterion for a Station to gain access to the

network associated with this AP—its MAC address must appear in the “Allowed

Station List” (see below) shown in the lower-right corner of this sub-tab.

Allowed Station List: The MAC addresses of the Stations in the network need to

be entered here if the Level 3, [Hide

SSID, Match SSID, Use Allowed List],

has been chosen as the access control

method. When Level 3, [Hide SSID,

Match SSID, Use Allowed List], is

selected, the Add, the Delete and the

Exit buttons below the “Allowed List”

panel become undimmed and

selectable (Screen-shot #6). An input

box (screen-shot #7) for entering the

MAC address of a Station to be allowed

to join the network appears when the

Add button is clicked. Type in the MAC

address and click the Done button, the

newly added MAC address should

appear in the list. As usual, the Apply

button needs to be clicked before this

addition truly takes effect. To delete a

MAC address from the “Allowed Station

List”, simply highlight the MAC address and click the Delete button. Clicking on

the Exit button right after either the Add or the Delete action, but before pressing

the Apply button, will cancel either the Add or the Delete action.

Note that if the Station radio is a Wireless PCMCIA Card or a Wireless USB

Adapter, the MAC address is directly associated with the Card or the Adapter.

The MAC addresses can be either read off the labels on the Card/Adapter, or

from the utility programs, or from the host computers (e.g., “ipconfig /all” in DOS,

“ifconfig” in Linux, or the “Network” setting in the “Control Panel” of Microsoft

Windows). However, if the Station is an Virtual Cable Wi-Fi, the MAC

address is NOT the MAC address on the label of the radio, it is, instead, the

MAC address of the Ethernet port of the host computer/device.

Tx Rate: The RF environment sometimes can be hostile to the highest data rate

available to Virtual Cable Wi-fi. That gives rise to the need for trading off between

data rate and link robustness. The six choices in the pull-down list allow the

network manager to select that optimum trade off.

Authentication Option: When the “open system” option is chosen, no encryption

is applied to the packets exchanged between this Station radio and another

radio. Communication with another radio (a station or an AP), however, can be

successful only if the other radio also is set up to communicate in the “open

Screen-shot #7