Linksys WAP51AB User Guide - Page 10

Instant WirelessTM Series 9. As shown in Figure 5-8, the Basic Settings screen for your 2.4 GHz/802.11b wireless products will appear. Enter your wireless network's SSID and select the channel at which the network broadcasts its wireless signal. Then, click the Next button to continue or Back to return to the previous page. • SSID. The SSID is the unique name shared among all points in a wireless network. The SSID must be identical for all points in the wireless network. It is case sensitive and must not exceed 32 characters, which may be any keyboard character. Make sure this setting is the same for all points in your wireless network. • Channel. Select the appropriate channel from the list provided to correspond with your network settings, between 1 and 11 (in North America). All points in your wireless network must use the same channel in order to function correctly. Dual-Band Wireless Access Point 10. The Security Settings screen (Figure 5-9) for your 2.4 GHz/802.11b wireless products will appear next. From this screen, you will set the Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption, 64-bit/128-bit, for your wireless network. Select a WEP configuration method and a WEP passphrase. • WEP (Disable/64-bit WEP/128-bit WEP). In order to utilize WEP encryption, select the WEP setting from the pull-down menu. If you do not wish to utilize WEP encryption, make sure Disable is selected. • Passphrase. This is a text string with a maximum of 16 alphanumeric characters used for generating a WEP Key. Type the passphrase here. This passphrase may not work with non-Linksys products due to possible incompatibility with other vendors' passphrase generators. If you'd rather not use a passphrase and would rather enter the WEP Key manually, click the Next button. Click the Next button to continue or Back to return to the previous page. Figure 5-8 Note: WEP encryption should be used whenever communicating over a wireless network. Wireless transmissions, by their very nature, are unprotected and WEP encryption helps to close this hole in security and make your wireless network safer to use. 12 Figure 5-9 Note: The Access Point's passphrase function when mixing products from other manufacturers into your wireless network. Linksys products should always be used for optimum functionality. If another company's wireless product is used, however, the WEP key should be set manually. 13