User's Manual

Table Of Contents

Network Settings

Network Configuration Web Pages

◊ Aging Time: Enter the number of seconds that network addresses of devices using the

bridge are stored in the bridge table after receiving a packet. The range is

10-1000000 seconds. The default value is 300 seconds.

◊ Forward Delay: The forward time specifies how much time a bridge spends in the

listening and learning states before forwarding a packet. This is used to prevent a

bridge from starting to forward data packets over a link until the bridged network has

been informed of the topology change and the affected links have been turned on or

off. If you set this value too low, loops can exist until the spanning tree algorithm

protocol re-configures the topology. Setting the value too high can cause delays until

the spanning tree protocol re-configures the topology. The range is 4-200 seconds.

The default setting is 15 seconds.

◊ Hello Time: The hello time is the period between the configuration messages

generated by a root bridge. If you believe that configuration messages may be getting

lost, shorten the hello time. To reduce the amount of overhead messages, increase the

hello time. The range is 1-10 seconds. The default setting is 2 seconds.

◊ Max Age: The maximum age is used to determine when the bridge’s stored

configuration information is out of date and is removed. Setting the value too small

causes the spanning tree protocol to reconfigure the bridge topology too often, which

can cause a momentary loss of connectivity to the network. Setting the value too

large can slow down the network because it is taking longer than necessary to adjust

to a new spanning tree configuration for the bridge. A conservative value assumes a

delay variance of 2 seconds per hop. The range is 6-200 seconds. The default value

is 20 seconds.

◊ Priority: The bridge priority is used to determine which bridge to use for the root

bridge and which to use for the designated bridge. In general, a lower bridge priority

number results in the bridge being selected as the root bridge or a designated bridge.

The range is 0-65535.

• New Port Priority: Not supported in this firmware release.

• New Path Cost: Enter the path cost for a specific interface on this bridge. The spanning

tree algorithm adds this value to the root cost in configuration messages that are received

on this port, and is used to determine the path cost to the root through this interface.

Larger path cost values can result in the LAN being accessed through this interface to

be lower in the spanning tree topology. This can result in less through traffic through this

port. You should assign a large path cost to a LAN that has a lower bandwidth or where

you want to minimize LAN traffic. The range is 0-65535.

• Assigned Interfaces: This area lists the interfaces in the AP/Bridge that are part of this

bridge. To remove an interface from this bridge, check the box next to that interface and

select Make Changes.

• Learned Macs: This area lists the source MAC addresses of packets that have been passed

through this bridge.