3Com OfficeConnect 3CRWE454A72 Technical Brief - Page 3

Browse online or download pdf Technical Brief for Wireless Access Point 3Com OfficeConnect 3CRWE454A72. 3Com OfficeConnect 3CRWE454A72 6 pages. Configuring a wireless distribution system (wds) with the 3com officeconnect wireless 11a/b/g access point
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3 C O M

C O N F I G U R I N G A W I R E L E S S D I S T R I B U T I O N S Y S T E M T E C H N I C A L B R I E F

Figure 3: Wireless Repeater Configuration

If, for example, an 802.3 Ethernet

frame is sent from a wired Station 1

(Sta1) to Sta3 in Figure 2, frame trans-

lations are required while the frame

forwards through the WDS link

between AP1 and AP2. When AP1

receives the 802.3 frame, the frame is

translated to a IEEE 802.11 standard

four-address format frame before it is

sent to a WDS link. In the four-

address format frame, the MAC

address of Sta1, MAC address of AP1,

MAC address of AP2 and MAC

address of Sta3 are all included in the

Wireless Repeater

In Figure 3, AP2 is used to extend the

range of the wireless infrastructure by

forwarding traffic between associated

wireless stations and another repeater

or AP connected to the wired LAN.

Note that the local Ethernet traffic is

not forwarded in this mode. Traffic

between Sta3 and Sta4 is not for-

warded across the WDS link, nor is

traffic between Sta5 and Sta6. As

with a wireless bridge mode, APs

operating in wireless repeater mode

need to translate frames into different

frame formats when forwarding

802.11 frame header, and the frame

data is same as the original Ethernet

frame. Based on information in this

four-address format frame, AP2 will

reconstruct the 802.3 Ethernet frame

when the frame is forwarded to

LAN2. If a security algorithm is con-

figured on the APs, AP1(AP2) will

encrypt(decrypt) this four-address

format frame before frame forward-

ing. From Sta3's point of view, the

bridging function is transparent; i.e.,

the received frame is the same as if

Sta1 and Sta3 resided on the same LAN.

802.3 Ethernet frame

802.11 three-address format frame

802.11 four-address format frame

WDS link

frames between wireless connections

and WDS links; the 802.11 three-address

frame format is used on wireless links

connected to wireless stations, while

the 802.3 four-address frame format is

used on WDS links connected to

other access points. Encryption/

decryption algorithms are also invoked

if the AP is configured to be secure.

The OfficeConnect Wireless 11a/b/g

Access Point can function as a wireless

repeater or wireless bridge if WDS

links are configured between the con-

nected AP pairs appropriately.