Buffalo WLA2-G54C User Manual

54Mbps Wireless Bridge Base Station

User Manual WLA2-G54C

INTRODUCTION

1.1 AirStation 54Mbps Bridge Base Station (WLA2-G54C)

This User Manual introduces you to the High-Speed AirStation 54Mbps Bridge Base Station and will assist you with the more advanced features of the product.

The AirStation 54Mbps Bridge Base Station , WLA2-G54C, is a wireless network access point that can be added to an existing network (LAN) to create a wireless network or added to an existing WLAN to extend the range of the WLAN. The WLA2-G54C complies with the IEEE 802.11g wireless standard and is interoperable with the IEEE 802.11b wireless standard. IEEE 802.11g technology features longer range than IEEE 802.11a and greater bandwidth with data rates up to 54 Mbps in the turbo mode. The WLA2-G54C supports Wi-Fi Protected Access™, AES, 802.1x and WEP for security. The WLA2-G54C supports the Wireless Distribution System (WDS) and can be used as a multi-functional bridge/link between wired and wireless LANs. The WLA2-G54C has a built-in 10/100M 4-port switch to incorporate features of wired and wireless networking environments.

1.2 AirStation Wireless Network Features

Summary of the AirStation WLA2-G54C features:

• AOSS automatically creates a secure connection between your AOSS Access Point and client.

• Wi-Fi™ (Wireless Fidelity) certiﬁed AirStation will communicate with other Wi-Fi compliant 802.11g wireless LAN products.

• Wi-Fi Protected Access™ (WPA), AES, 802.1x and WEP for protecting data.

• Automatic Transmit Rate Select mechanism transmits at speeds of 24, 12, 11, 5.5, 2 and 1 Mbps.

• Supports turbo mode of 36, 48 and up to 54 Mbps.

• Wireless Bridge System (WDS) support for multi-point communication.

• Ability to set a ﬁxed data rate for faster than 11Mbps ignoring 802.11b legacy devices.

• Auto roaming, supports seamless roaming over multiple channels.

• Wi-Fi Protected Access™ support.

• EAP-TLS, expanding the 802.1x authentication method.

• Up to 128bit Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) data encryption.

• Packet Filtering for eliminating unwanted communications.

• Syslog transmits some or all system activities to a central Syslog server.

• Extended range, with optional add-on 2.4GHz antennas.

• Auto Media Dependent Interface/Crossover (MDI/X) port, allows connection by standard and crossover CAT5 cables.

• Optional external 2.4 GHz antennas for boosting range and signal quality.

• Improved resistance to environmental conditions.

1.3 AirStation 54Mbps Bridge Base Station Package

The AirStation WLA2-G54C package consists of the following items.

1. WLA2-G54C

2. AC adapter with Int’l Adapters

3. CAT5 straight cable

4. Quick Setup Guides

5. WLA2-G54C Utility CD with Manuals

6. Warranty Statement

7.Wall mounting kit

1.4 Product Views

1.5 About the AirStation CD

Prior to copying or installing the software, please read the Software License Agreement “license.txt”, located in the root folder of the CD. By installing, copying or using the AirStation software, you are consenting to the terms of this agreement. If you do not agree to all of the terms of the Software License Agreement, do not download, copy or install the AirStation software.

It is the policy of Buffalo Technology to improve products as new technology, components, software and ﬁ rmware become available.

Before you proceed with the installation of this product, please consult the Buffalo website (indicated last page) to download and install the latest software for your product.

BASIC SETUP

2.1 Using AirNavigator

wireless LAN environment for both AP and PC (client). The system requires Explorer 4.0 or higher, or Netscape Com mu ni ca tor 4.0 or higher.

For easy setup, the WLA2-G54C CD contains a web-based utility, AirNavigator. Use it to set up the

To set up the parameters manually, refer to Chapter 3. Before installation, verify the PC is set up for browsing the Internet.

1. Insert the AirNavigator CD into the CD drive. The following screen will appear. For AirStation setup, select “Setup the BaseStation” and click

OK.

2. The Network Adapter conﬁ rmation screen will appear. Verify the adapter shown matches that of the PC.

3. A login screen will appear.

• Enter “root” as the User name.

• Leave the Password box blank (do not enter anything into the Password box) and click OK.

If the following screen is shown, con nec tion to the WLA2-G54C is complete.

4 Click Finish.

5 To place a shortcut icon on the desktop, click Yes. Oth er wise, click No.

STANDARD SETTINGS

Introduction

Setting up the AirStation parameters using a Web Browser requires basic wireless conﬁ guration knowledge. For Advanced settings and explanations of each parameter and its use, see Chapter 4.

3.2 Setup Overview

The WLA2-G54C is conﬁ gured to function right out of the box. Simple settings for security and MAC Address registration are offered in this section, Specialized setups for security, ﬁ ltering and other features will be explained in later sections by clicking the Advanced Button.

3.3 Open the Setup Screen

• Click “Encrypt the wireless communications (WEP/TKIP/AES)” to enter Encryption setting to protect your wireless data.

Select the Type of encryption and click “Next” to input a password or encryption code to protect wireless com mu ni ca tions.

WEP - It is possible to enter up to 4 different WEPs. The WEP key must match between two parties for secure com mu ni ca tions.

Examples of WEP key:

64bit ASCII: 5 digits of alphanumeric characters, “ab34Y”

128bit ASCII: 13 digits of alphanumeric characters, “123456abcdef7”

64bit HEX: 10 digits, using characters 0-9 and a-f, “00234ABCDE”

128bit HEX: 26 digits, using characters 0-9 and a-f, “20123456789abcdeabcdeab cde”

TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol) - A WEP expanded encryption technique. TKIP has greatly improved WEP’s weaknesses by rotating secret keys between every packet.

Characteristics:

• The Initialization Vector is expanded from 24 bits to 48 bits.

• The Initialization Vector is randomized.

• Uses a different RC4 key for every packet

AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) - A next generation encryption technique discussed by the IEEE 802.11i committee.

TKIP improves WEP’s weakness, however AES also changes the encryption method away from the weaker RC4 style.

Throughput decreases 10 to 20 percent when TKIP software encoding is used. AES doesn’t decrease performance at all because it uses a hardware co-processor.

Characteristics:

• USA government uses same encryption method. AES encryption has not been hacked to date.

• The hardware co-processor contributes less throughput loss then other forms of encryption.

3.4 Simple Setting for Wireless MAC Filter

• Click “Wireless MAC Filter” and then “Next” to set up MAC address restriction in LAN.

Input MAC addresses that is to be allowed to communicate.

USING AIRSTATION FOR ADVANCED CONFIGURATIONS

Al th ou gh your AirStation wil l fu nc ti on f in e us in g only the settings from Section 3, you may wish to ex pl ore more advanced options. This chapter explains each parameter in the Advanced button. Click the Top tab and click the Advanced button.

LAN Setting

4.1.1 Wireless

Wireless Radio - Enable or disable wireless

communication

Wireless Mode - Select one of the following: Mixed - Allows communication of 11g and

11b devices. Communication speed will drop to 11Mbps when 11b devices are connected.

11g-only - Boosts 11g devices to turbo 54Mbps mode.

11b-only - Use only the IEEE802.11b (11Mbps WiFi compatible) standard.

SSID - Allows administrator to alter the SSID of the AirStation. Default SSID is the LAN MAC Address. To communicate with a specific AP only, the AP’s SSID must be entered in the client PC. The client PC looks for the speciﬁ c AP (or SSID) for wireless communication. Use up to 32 al pha nu mer ic characters for the SSID (case sensitive).

■ Note: Roaming - When multiple AirStations have an identical SSID, and WEP client PCs may Roam between the AirStations.

Wireless Channel - Select the channel used for wireless communication. There are 11 overlapping channels. Channels 1, 6 and 11

are non-overlapping.

If there are multiple APs in close proximity using the same channel, there may be interference. In this case, change to a non-overlapping channel.

■ Note: This parameter is automatically set in the client computer.

Privacy Seperator - Select Use or do not use to block communication between each wireless LAN PC on the wireless network. If you choose to use, every wireless LAN PCs that is associated to the same AirStation can not communicate with each other. Even if this function is used, wired LAN PCs can communicate with wireless LAN PCs.

BSS Basic Rate Set - Determines the rate at which data will be transmitted between devices on the network. The default BSS on the AirStation will allow high transmission rates for 802.11g products while still accommodating the lower transmission rates of 802.11b and 802.11 wireless clients.

Frame Bursting

condition effects this function. The client wireless LAN adapter must support Frame Bursting feature too. When multiple wireless clients use Frame Bursting feature, the throughput might not increase

802.11g Protection

prior to starting IEEE802.11g communication. If communication speed is decreased, this setting improves total throughput with existing IEEE802.11g and IEEE802.11b standard devices,. The throughput decreases if only IEEE802.11g standard devices exists.

DTIM Period - A transmits beacon signals to nearby clients at a preset interval. This parameter sets the beacon transmission interval time (1-255 sec.). Se lec tion of a larger number may conserve energy for the client PC (when client power management is enabled), but may delay wireless communication. The default value of 1 is recommended.

Wireless Output Power - Adjust the power ouput power of the radio.

- Increase IEEE802.11g communication throughput by transferring packets continuously. However, the following

- When this function is enabled, the AirStation requests IEEE802.11b devices to stop communication for a while

4.1.2 Wireless LAN Security

Broadcast SSID - This setting turns off SSID

broadcasting which makes the AirStation invisible to client surveys. Clients will have to be manually conﬁ gured to connect to an AirStation with SSID broadcasting turned off.

The only options are to allow or deny connections for these types of clients, thus, wireless networks requiring security should mandate an encryption policy to preserve security if SSID broadcasting is allowed.

Data Encryption - Select encryption type of wireless data communication.

Disable - Disable data encryption.

WEP - Using WEP encryption. Encryption key should be

entered. When an encryption standard is implemented into a wireless network, a WEP key is used between the client and access point to successfully encrypt, transmit and decrypt data. For this reason, the same WEP key must be used for communication by the client and the access point with which it is attempting to establish a connection session. An access point and client may both carry multiple WEP keys. It is necessary for not only the WEP keys to match, but also the WEP key’s location or number. If a wireless client can not support multiple WEP keys, the AirStation’s must be conﬁ gured to transmit key number 1 for a connection to take place.

■ WEP Key Input Formats

64bit ASCII: 5 digits of alphanumeric characters, “ab34Y”

128bit ASCII: 13 digits of alphanumeric characters, “123456abcdef7”

64bit HEX: 10 digits, using characters 0-9 and a-f, “00234ABCDE”

128bit HEX: 26 digits, using characters 0-9 and a-f, “20123456789abcdeabcdeabcde”

TKIP - Using TKIP(Temporal Key Integrity Protocol) for data encryption.

AES - Using AES(Advanced Encryption Standard) for data encryption.

WPA-PSK - Authenticate with the AirStation using WPA-PSK (Pre-shared key), and then encrypt data using TKIP or AES. The

wireless client’s settings must use the same encryption method and key.Select “TKIP” or “AES” as the [Data Encryption].

■ WPA-PSK Input Formats

8 to 63 characters in ASCII or 64 digits hexadecimal key.

Example 1: [airstation-WPA-PSK]

Example 2: [0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef]

WPA Re-key interval - When TKIP or AES is selected, the encryption key is renewed at this interval. This interval is in seconds; the range of acceptable values is 0-3600.

If 0 is entered, key is never renewed.

■ Note: The lower the rekey interval is, the more often a rekey happens. Setting this number low may slightly affect your performance.

4.1.3 LAN Port

Set LAN interface parameters.

IP address - Allows ad min is tra tor to select whether AirStation is assigned an IP address by a DHCP server or specify a static IP and Subnet Mask for the LAN side of the AirStation.

■ Note: If the AP’s IP address is changed to a different range, the setting PC’s IP must be changed to the same range to continue conﬁ guration. Then restart the setup session from the AirStation utility screen.

Default Gateway - Allows administrator to use the Default Gateway address (the AirStation’s IP address), assign a speciﬁ c Gateway address, or block clients from Gateway notiﬁ cation.

DNS (Name) server address - Allows administrator to use the default DNS address (the AirStation’s IP address), assign speciﬁ c DNS addresses, or block clients from DNS address notiﬁ cation.

.4 Wireless LAN Computer Lim i ta tion

This option limits the PCs allowed a wireless connection to the AirStation. It is used to control the wireless connections to the AirStation.

Enforce MAC Filtering - Select Enable to restrict the connection and Disable for open access. Register your client PC’s MAC address before selecting Set.

MAC address to be registered - MAC access restriction set up in LAN. Input the MAC addresses that to be allowed to communicate.

MAC address list - Display a table list of all MAC addresses.

4.1.5 Wireless Bridge (WDS)

Wireless Distribution System allows the wireless connection of access points to extend a wiredor wireless infrastructure to locations where cabling is not possible or too expensive to implement.

Wireless Bridging (WDS) : Select Enable to allow WDS mode between AirStations or Disable to block communication between AirStations.

WDS Dedicated Mode : Select Enable to disable wireless PCs from communicating with the AirStation.

■ Note: Both AirStations must support WDS to communicate with each other. WDS process must be repeated with other bridge access points.

Example: AP1 MAC Address is entered into AP2; AP2 MAC Address is entered into AP1;

Add a WDS Partner : Allows administrator to register the wireless MAC address of AirStations for (WDS) point-to-point or point-to multipoint communication between AirStations. The MAC address to enter is found in the Management section, under System Information/Wireless MAC address section. The WDS function must be set to Enable. The MAC address is 12 characters long.

Enter the Wireless MAC address in the form of two characters separated by a colon and click Apply. Up to six sets may be registered.

WDS Partners : Once settings have been added to the WDS conﬁ guration screen, the MAC Address of associated Access Point(s) will be displayed.

+ 16 hidden pages