The Wireless screen allows you to customize data transmission settings.
In most cases, the advanced settings on this screen should remain at
their default values.
Authentication Type
The default is set to Auto, which allows either Open System or Shared
Key authentication to be used. For Open System authentication, the
sender and the recipient do NOT use a WEP key for authentication. For
Shared Key authentication, the sender and recipient use a WEP key for
authentication. If you want to use only Shared Key authentication, then
select Shared Key.
Transmission Rate
The default setting is Auto. The range is from 1 to 54Mbps.
The rate of data transmission should be set depending on the speed of
your wireless network. You can select from a range of transmission
speeds, or keep the default setting, Auto, to have the Router
automatically use the fastest possible data rate and enable the
Auto-Fallback feature. Auto-Fallback will negotiate the best possible
connection speed between the Router and a wireless client.
Basic Rate
The default value is set to Default. Depending on the wireless mode you
have selected, a default set of supported data rates will be selected.
The default setting will ensure maximum compatibility with all devices.
You may also choose to enable all data rates by selecting ALL. For
compatibility with older Wireless-B devices, select 1-2Mbps.
CTS Protection Mode
The default value is set to Disabled. When set to Auto, a protection
mechanism will ensure that your Wireless-B devices will connect to the
Wireless-G Router when many Wireless-G devices are present. However,
performance of your Wireless-G devices may be decreased.
Beacon Interval
The default value is 100. Enter a value between 1 and 65,535
milliseconds. The Beacon Interval value indicates the frequency
interval of the beacon. A beacon is a packet broadcast by the Router to
synchronize the wireless network.
RTS Threshold
This value should remain at its default setting of 2347. The range is
0-2347 bytes. Should you encounter inconsistent data flow, only minor
modifications are recommended. If a network packet is smaller than the
preset RTS threshold size, the RTS/CTS mechanism will not be enabled.
The Router sends Request to Send (RTS) frames to a particular receiving
station and negotiates the sending of a data frame. After receiving an
RTS, the wireless station responds with a Clear to Send (CTS) frame to
acknowledge the right to begin transmission.
Fragmentation Threshold
This value should remain at its default setting of 2346. The range is
256-2346 bytes. It specifies the maximum size for a packet before data
is fragmented into multiple packets. If you experience a high packet
error rate, you may slightly increase the Fragmentation Threshold.
Setting the Fragmentation Threshold too low may result in poor network
performance. Only minor modifications of this value are recommended.
DTIM Interval
The default value is 1. This value, between 1 and 255 milliseconds,
indicates the interval of the Delivery Traffic Indication Message
(DTIM). A DTIM field is a countdown field informing clients of the next
window for listening to broadcast and multicast messages. When the
Router has buffered broadcast or multicast messages for associated
clients, it sends the next DTIM with a DTIM Interval value. Its clients
hear the beacons and awaken to receive the broadcast and multicast
messages.
Wireless MAC Filters
The Wireless MAC Filters feature allows you to control which
wireless-equipped PCs may or may not communicate with the Router's
depending on their MAC addresses. To disable the Wireless MAC Filters
feature, keep the default setting, Disable. To set up a filter, click
Enable, and follow these instructions:
1. If you want to block specific wireless-equipped PCs from
communicating with the Router, then keep the default setting, Prevent
PCs listed from accessing the wireless network. If you want to allow
specific wireless-equipped PCs to communicate with the Router, then
click the radio button next to Permit only PCs listed to access the
wireless network.
2. Click the Edit MAC Filter List button. Enter the appropriate MAC
addresses into the MAC fields.
Note: For each MAC field, the MAC address should be entered in this
format: xxxxxxxxxxxx (the x's represent the actual characters of the
MAC address).
3. Click the Save Settings button to save your changes. Click the
Cancel Changes button to cancel your unsaved changes. Click the Close
button to return to the Advanced Wireless screen without saving changes.
Wireless Mode
If you have Wireless-G and 802.11b devices in your network, then keep
the default setting, Mixed. If you have only Wireless-G devices, select
G-Only. If you want to disable wireless networking, select Disable. If
you would like to limit your network to only 802.11b devices, then
select B-Only.
SSID
The SSID is the network name shared among all devices in a wireless
network. The SSID must be identical for all devices in the wireless
network. It is case-sensitive and must not exceed 32 alphanumeric
characters, which may be any keyboard character. Make sure this setting
is the same for all devices in your wireless network. For added
security, Linksys recommends that you change the default SSID (linksys)
to a unique name of your choice.
SSID Broadcast
When wireless clients survey the local area for wireless networks to
associate with, they will detect the SSID broadcast by the Router. To
broadcast the Router SSID, keep the default setting, Enable. If you do
not want to broadcast the Router SSID, then select Disable. Channel
Select the appropriate channel from the list provided to correspond
with your network settings, between 1 and 11 (in North America). All
devices in your wireless network must use the same channel in order to
function correctly.
Check all the values and click Save Settings to save your settings.
Click Cancel Changes to cancel your unsaved changes.