User's Manual

Atheros Communications, Inc. Introduction • 1-1
COMPANY CONFIDENTIAL March 2003 • 1-1
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Introduction
The Atheros Access Point implements an IEEE 802.11a/b/g wireless LAN
(WLAN) AP or data-oriented Residential Gateway (RG) supporting up to 256
station associations. Rates of 6 to 54 Mbps are supported in standard IEEE
802.11a/g modes and up to 11 Mbps in 802.11b mode.
System Requirements
The AP contains a small boot executive that allows the main operating system
software to be downloaded using the Ethernet port over an FTP connection.
The Operating system software can also reside in the Flash memory of the AP,
which allows booting without the need to download the operating system
from the host PC over an FTP connection. A configuration file is created in
Flash memory to store user-configurable parameters such as WEP keys. A
terminal or PC with an Ethernet connection is required to perform the initial
AP configuration. An FTP server is required for firmware update to the AP.
Use the AP Web Server for firmware updates. Refer to Appendix A,
“Firmware Update Configuration Window” for information on the web
server.