Wireless Frequently Asked Questions

1- What is a Wireless LAN?

A WLAN is a flexible data communications system implemented as an extension to or as

an alternative for a wired LAN. Using Radio Frequency, wireless nodes send and receive
data over the air thus minimizing the need for wired connections.

2- How Wireless LANs Work?

Wireless LANs use radio frequency for communicating between nodes. The LAN can be
several mobile computers talking to each other (Ad Hoc mode) or Wireless computers
accessing the network and Internet through an Access Point (Infrastructure mode).

Ad Hoc Mode

Infrastructure Mode
 3- What is Basic Service Set (BSS)?

BSS is one of the operation modes of a wireless LAN. In this case all wireless stations
communicate with the Access Point and not directly to each other. All frames are relayed
between wireless stations by the access point.

4- What is Extended Service Set (ESS)?

An Extended Service Set is a set of infrastructure BSS’s where the Access Points
communicate among themselves to forward traffic from one BSS to another to facilitate
movement of wireless stations between BSS’s.

5- What are the adaptors connecting Laptops and Desktops to the WLAN?

Wireless PC cards
Wireless PCI cards
Wireless USB adapters

6- What is 802.11?

802.11 is a family of specifications developed by the IEEE for wireless LAN technology.

7- What is 802.11b?

802.11b is an extension to 802.11 that applies to wireless LANs and provides 11 Mbps
transmission (with fallback to 5.5, 2 and 1 Mbps) in the 2.4GHz band.

8- What is 802.11a?

802.11a uses a different encoding scheme than 802.11b and provides up to 54Mbps in the
5GHz band.

9- What is 802.11g?

802.11g uses the same encoding (OFDM) as 802.11a standard to obtain higher data
speeds of up to 54Mbps in the 2.4GHz band.

10- What are CNet’s Wire less products?

PCI Card- CWP-854

CardBus Adapter- CWC-854
USB Adapter- CWD-854
Access Point- CWA-854
Wireless Router- CWR-854
 11- Which components do I need to set up a Home wireless Network?

If you are connecting to the Internet through a DSL/Cable modem, then you need the
Wireless Router and also the Wireless PC card or the Wireless USB adapter to connect
your laptop or desktop systems.

12- What devices are needed for an Office Wireless setup?

The Broadband gateways CNIG-914 can be used to connect to the Internet through the
Cable/DSL modem. The printer servers CNP-410, CNP-101U and CNP-430 provide
network printing. Depending on the area to be covered for wireless, one or more
Wireless Access points might be needed to have network connectivity throughout the
premises. Again the wireless PC card, USB wireless adapter or the wireless PCI card
can be used for desktop and laptop computers.

The second scenario would be to use the Wireless router as the gateway to the Internet
and wireless USB, PC card or PCI adapters for client systems.
 13- What is Roaming and how can that be used in corporate/enterprise networks?

Roaming is a capability in Infrastructure Wireless networks where a node can move

within the ESS and maintain connectivity at all time. In setting up an ESS (Extended
Service Set), where several Access Points are used, correct position of the Access Points
and use of the same ESS ID on all nodes is essential to network connectivity.

14- What are the operational modes of CNet Access Point and Router?

Both the AP and the router can be configured to operate as an AP, WDS, AP+WDS or
Client mode.

15- What is WDS (Wireless Distribution System)?

In IEEE 802.11 terminology a “Distribution System” is system that

Interconnects, so-called, Basic Service Sets (BSS). A BSS is best compared to a
“Cell”, driven by a single Access Point (one of those circles in the diagram below). So a
“Distribution System” connects cells in order to build a premise wide network which
allows users of mobile equipment to roam and stay connected to the available network
resources.
A distribution system can be Wired (typically Ethernet), or Wireless (using the radio
device inside the Access Point). The following diagram shows a wired distribution
system. (fig 1)
If no cable is used but the connection between the APs is established using radio signal, a
wireless distribution system is created as shown in fig 2.

16- What are the benefits of using WDS?

z Cost effective. No additional expense in terms of adding a wireless link to an

already installed Access Point. Adding a WDS link merely requires a
reconfiguration of the Access Point, without having to pay the price for an additional
PC Card
z Flexible. Expanding an existing wired infrastructure network by adding coverage
for office space that is not adjacent to the existing office can be easily achieved,
providing great flexibility.

17- How to set up WDS on CNet’s CWR-854?

This setup assumes that there are two CWR-854 routers, router 1 and 2.

Router 1

1. When in the router’s configuration, select Wireless and click on Basic Settings then
click on the arrow key next to “mode” and select WDS. Please note that routers in a
distribution system have to operate on the same channel but their ESSID can be
different.
2. In the next step, click on WDS, Enable “Distribution System” and type MAC
address of Router 2 in the “Add WDS AP MAC Address field, and then click on the
“apply changes” button.

Router 2

When in the router’s configuration, select Wireless and click on Basic Settings then
click on the arrow key next to “mode” and select WDS. Please note that routers in a
 distribution system have to operate on the same channel but their ESSID can be
different.
1. In the next step, click on WDS, Enable “Distribution System” and type MAC
address of Router 1 in the “Add WDS AP MAC Address field, and then click on
the “apply changes” button.
2. Select the “Management” and go to DHCP settings and disable DHCP function for
Router 2 then click on “apply changes” button.
3. WDS setting is completed now.

18- What is AP+WDS mode of operation?

This is a mode that enables the router or the access point to simultaneously listen to
wireless clients as well as other routers and access points with WDs feature enabled.