WPNT834 Manual: Understanding Wireless Settings

To configure the Wireless settings of your firewall, click the Wireless link in the main menu of the browser interface. The Wireless Settings menu appears, as shown below.

Name (SSID). The SSID is also known as the wireless network name. Enter a value of up to 32 alphanumeric characters. In a setting where there is more than one wireless network, different wireless network names provide a means for separating the traffic. Any device you want to participate in a particular wireless network will need to use this SSID for that network. The WPNT834 default SSID is: NETGEAR.

Region. This field identifies the region where the WPNT834 can be used. It may not be legal to operate the wireless features of the wireless router in a region other than one of those identified in this field.


	Note: The region selection feature may not be available in all countries.

Channel. This field determines which operating frequency is used. It should not be necessary to change the wireless channel unless you notice interference problems with another nearby access point. For more information on the wireless channel frequencies, see Wireless Communications.

Mode. This field determines which data communications protocol is used. You can select "g only", "g and b", "Up To 126 Mbps", and "Up To 240 MBps". The "g only" option dedicates the WPNT834 to communicating with the higher bandwidth 802.11g wireless devices exclusively. The "g and b" mode provides backward compatibility with the slower 802.11b wireless devices while still enabling 802.11g communications. The "Up to 126 Mbps" mode provides two transmission streams with different data on the same channel at the same time. The "Up to 240 Mbps" uses channel expansion to achieve the 240 Mbps data rate. The WPNT834 router will use the channel you selected as the primary channel and expand to the secondary channel (primary channel +4 or -4) to achieve a 40MHz frame-by-frame bandwidth. The WPNT834 router will detect channel usage and will disable frame-by-frame expansion if the expansion would result in interference with the data transmission of other access points or clients.


	Note: The maximum wireless signal rate is derived from the IEEE Standard 802.11 Specifications. Actual data throughput will vary. Network conditions and environmental factors, including volume of network traffic, building materials and construction, and network overhead, lower actual data throughput rate.

Security Options. These options are the wireless security features you can enable. The table below identifies the various basic wireless security options. A full explanation of these standards is available in Wireless Communications.

Table 4-1. Basic Wireless Security Options
Field	Description
None	No wireless security.
WEP	WEP offers the following options: Open System With Open Network Authentication and 64- or 128-bit WEP Data Encryption, the WPNT834 does perform 64- or 128-bit data encryption but does not perform any authentication. Shared Key Shared Key authentication encrypts the SSID and data. Choose the Encryption Strength (64- or 128-bit data encryption). Manually enter the key values or enter a word or group of printable characters in the Passphrase box. Manually entered keys are case sensitive but passphrase characters are not case sensitive. Note: Not all wireless adapter configuration utilities support passphrase key generation. Auto The wireless router automatically detects whether Open System or Shared Key is used.
WPA-PSK WPA2-PSK	WPA-Pre-shared Key does perform authentication. WPA-PSK uses TKIP (Temporal Key Integrity Protocol) data encryption and WPA2-PSK uses AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) data encryption. Both dynamically change the encryption keys making them nearly impossible to circumvent. Enter a word or group of printable characters in the Password Phrase box. These characters are case sensitive. Note: Not all wireless adapter configuration utilities support WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK. Furthermore, client software is required on the client. Windows XP Service Pack 2 and Windows XP Service Pack 1 with WPA patch do include the client software that supports WPA. Nevertheless, the wireless adapter hardware and driver must also support WPA.

To configure the advanced wireless settings of your firewall, click the Wireless Setup link in the Advanced section of the main menu of the browser interface. The Advanced Wireless Settings menu appears, as shown below.

Enable Wireless Router Radio. If you disable the wireless router radio, wireless devices cannot connect to the WPNT834.

Enable SSID Broadcast. If you disable broadcast of the SSID, only devices that have the correct SSID can connect. Disabling SSID broadcast nullifies the wireless network `discovery' feature of some products such as Windows XP.

Automatically switch channels to avoid interference. If enabled, the WPNT834 router will periodically survey the wireless environment to ensure that it is using the clearest channel. If a clearer channel is available, it may automatically switch channels.


	Note: After the router switches channels, there may be a slight delay while your wirless computers reconnect to the router. If you want to avoid this possibility, leave this checkbox unselected.

Wireless Card Access List. When the Trusted PCs Only radio button is selected, the WPNT834 checks the MAC address of the wireless station and only allows connections to computers identified on the trusted computers list.


	Note: The Fragmentation Threshold, CTS/RTS Threshold, and Preamble Mode options are reserved for wireless testing and advanced configuration only. Do not change these settings.