User's Guide

Chapter 11 Wireless LAN
EMG3435-Q20A User’s Guide
94
11.1.1 Wha t Yo u C a n Do
• Use the Wire le ss screen to enable or disable the 2.4GHz or 5GHz wireless LAN, set up wireless security
between the EMG3435-Q20A and the wireless clients, and make other basic configuration changes
(
Section 11.2 on page 97).
• Use the G ue st Wire le ss screen to set up multiple wireless networks on your EMG3435-Q20A (
Section
11.4 on page 104
).
• Use the MAC Filte r screen to allow or deny wireless stations based on their MAC addresses from
connecting to the EMG3435-Q20A (Section 11.5 on page 106).
• Use the Adva nc e d screen to allow intra-BSS networking and set the RTS/CTS Threshold (
Section 11.6 on
page 107
).
• Use the WPS screen to quickly set up a wireless network with strong security, without having to
configure security settings manually (Section 11.7 on page 109).
• Use the Sc he duling screen to set the times your wireless LAN is turned on and off (
Section 11.8 on
page 110
).
11.1.2 Wha t Yo u Sho uld Kno w
Every wireless network must follow these basic guidelines.
• Every wireless client in the same wireless network must use the same SSID.
The SSID is the name of the wireless network. It stands for Service Set IDentity.
• If two wireless networks overlap, they should use different channels.
Like radio stations or television channels, each wireless network uses a specific channel, or frequency,
to send and receive information.
• Every wireless client in the same wireless network must use security compatible with the AP.
Security stops unauthorized devices from using the wireless network. It can also protect the
information that is sent in the wireless network.
Wire le ss Se c urity O ve rvie w
The following sections introduce different types of wireless security you can set up in the wireless
network.
SSID
Normally, the AP acts like a beacon and regularly broadcasts the SSID in the area. You can hide the
SSID instead, in which case the AP does not broadcast the SSID. In addition, you should change the
default SSID to something that is difficult to guess.
This type of security is fairly weak, however, because there are ways for unauthorized devices to get the
SSID. In addition, unauthorized devices can still see the information that is sent in the wireless network.
MAC Addre ss Filte r
Every wireless client has a unique identification number, called a MAC address.
1
A MAC address is
usually written using twelve hexadecimal characters
2
; for example, 00A0C5000002 or 00:A0:C5:00:00:02.
1. Some wireless devices, such as scanners, can detect wireless networks but cannot use wireless networks. These
kinds of wireless devices might not have MAC addresses.