3Com 09-1765-001 - Manuals

Requesting a Site Survey 7 Site Electrical Considerations AirConnect APs draw power from wall outlets or over CAT 5 cabling using the AirConnect PowerBASE-T adapter. AP performance is subject to degradation due to inherent or random electrical problems or site-specific disturbances. The following Ai...

2 C ONDUCTING A S ITE S URVEY Introduction The AirConnect Site Survey utility is used to establish a two-way data network using both stationary and mobile devices at various points within the proposed radio coverage area. Assess AP signal strength using various AP configurations. The AirConnect Site...

Starting the Site Survey Utility 9 To install a trial AirConnect wireless network, use the following procedure. 1 Mount the APs. Mount APs at the locations recommended on the floor plan drawing. Start with the most difficult coverage area first. Position the APs so that their antennas are not obstru...

10 C HAPTER 2: C ONDUCTING A S ITE S URVEY Site Survey File Menu Use the File menu to create a new survey area workspace, open an existing survey workspace, define a new survey area, save the survey workspace, upload/ download existing survey workspace data, import survey workspace data, and display...

Site Survey Edit Menu 11 Site Survey Edit Menu The Site Survey utility Edit menu contains Site Survey, Area, and Settings pull-down menus. Use these menus to edit an open AirConnect site survey, display a list of coverage areas within the survey, and use the Setup, Meter Settings, Sounds and Logging...

12 C HAPTER 2: C ONDUCTING A S ITE S URVEY Editing Setup Properties Select Settings in the Edit menu to access the Setup, Meter Settings, Sounds, and Logging tabs. Use these dialog boxes to change default settings for the current site survey workspace. Setup Property Page Select the Setup tab to cha...

Navigating the View Menu 13 Logging Property Page Select the Logging property page to change the following default site survey workspace logging information. Enable Logging. Select Enable Logging to enable Short Logging Format or Detailed Logging Format. If unchecked, no logging takes place during t...

Navigating the Area Menu 15 Editing the Note File for an Open Survey Area Select Edit Note in the Area menu to display the notes file for the active survey area. Use the Edit Note option to edit or delete the survey test notes entered for the active survey workspace. Running ICMP or WNMP Tests Selec...

16 C HAPTER 2: C ONDUCTING A S ITE S URVEY Use the Site Survey Totals dialog box to display survey area final test results, including test start time, total number of tests, total number of runs, total test roundtrip time, average test roundtrip time, and total number of timeouts. The two checkboxes...

A A IR C ONNECT O VERVIEW Introduction AirConnect from 3Com is made up of a series of products that work together to deliver high-speed digital wireless networking. This technology provides connectivity between wireless clients and network nodes in a variety of indoor environments, and also provides...

18 A PPENDIX A: A IR C ONNECT O VERVIEW Peer-To-Peer Network The simplest AirConnect topology consists of one AP providing a single-cell network for wireless clients. In this scenario, as shown in the following figure, the wireless clients (laptop and desktop computers with the AirConnect NIC instal...

AirConnect Network Topologies 19 Single AP Bridge Another possible AirConnect topology is a single AP bridging an Ethernet and wireless network. As shown in the next figure, the AP, wired to a network server or LAN through an Ethernet cable, serves as a network node and provides the link between the...

20 A PPENDIX A: A IR C ONNECT O VERVIEW Multiple-AP Full Coverage Network This network topology will be used in most enterprise environments: multiple APs wired to an existing LAN to provide complete wireless network coverage. In this scenario, as shown in the next figure, wireless clients can roam ...

Theory of Operation 21 The AP removes from its database destinations or interfaces not used for a specified time. The AP refreshes its database when it transmits or receives data from these destinations and interfaces. Filtering and Access Control The AP provides facilities to limit the wireless cli...

22 A PPENDIX A: A IR C ONNECT O VERVIEW The radio interface conforms to IEEE 802.11 HR specifications. The interface operates at 11 Mbps using direct-sequence radio technology. The AP supports multiple-cell operations with fast, transparent roaming between cells. With the direct-sequence system, eac...

Theory of Operation 23 The PPP implementation in the AP uses the NCP as described in RFC 1220: PPP Extensions for Bridging to encapsulate packets at the Ethernet level. The PPP provides IP bridging control as defined by RFC 1172 and MAC-level bridging. The protocol provides support for PPP negotiati...

24 A PPENDIX A: A IR C ONNECT O VERVIEW Straight-through cable pinout: When using a modem connection, one AP represents the originating AP and the other represents the answering AP. When using a PPP link, do not use the serial port to access the UI. Access to the UI requires establishing a Telnet se...

Theory of Operation 25 Wireless Client Association Process APs recognize wireless clients as they associate with the AP. The AP keeps a list of the wireless clients it services. Wireless clients associate with an AP based on the following conditions: ■ Signal strength between the AP and wireless cli...

26 A PPENDIX A: A IR C ONNECT O VERVIEW ■ The ratio of good-transmitted packets to attempted-transmitted packets falls below a threshold. ■ The wireless client detects an imbalance in the number of wireless clients associated with available APs and roams to a less loaded AP. A wireless client select...

Theory of Operation 27 The AirConnect Mobile IP (roaming across routers) feature enables a wireless client on the Internet to move from one subnet to another while keeping its IP address unchanged. The scanning and associating process continues for active wireless clients. This allows the wireless c...

28 A PPENDIX A: A IR C ONNECT O VERVIEW A TIM is a compressed virtual bitmap identifying the AP associated wireless clients in PSP mode that have buffered directed messages. wireless clients issue a poll request when APs issue a TIM. A beacon with the broadcast-indicator bit set causes the wireless ...

Theory of Operation 29 Programmable SNMP Trap Support The SNMP protocol defines the method for obtaining information about networks operating characteristics and changing router and gateway parameters. The SNMP protocol consists of three elements: ■ Management stations ■ Management information ■ Man...

30 A PPENDIX A: A IR C ONNECT O VERVIEW Using the User Interface The User Interface (UI) is a text-based maintenance tool integrated into the AP. It provides statistical displays, AP configuration options, and firmware upgrades. Access to the UI requires one of the following: Method Description Teln...