Chapter 4 Troubleshooting
This chapter provides solutions to problems usually encountered during the installation and operation of the
Access Point.
1. How to manually find your PC’s IP and MAC Address?
1) In Windows, open the Command Prompt program
2) Type ipconfig /all and Enter
y Your PC’s IP address is the one entitled IP address
y Your PC’s MAC Address is the one entitled Physical Address
2. What is Ad-hoc?
An Ad-hoc wireless LAN is a group of computers, each with a WLAN adapter, connected as an
independent wireless LAN.
3. What is Infrastructure?
An integrated wireless and wired LAN is called an Infrastructure configuration.
4. What is BSS ID?
A group of wireless stations and an Access Point compose a Basic Service Set (BSS). Computers in a
BSS must be configured with the same BSSID.
5. What is ESSID?
An Infrastructure configuration could also support roaming capability for mobile workers. More than one
BSS can be configured as an Extended Service Set (ESS). Users within an ESS could roam freely
between BSSs while maintaining a continuous connection to the wireless network stations and the
Wireless LAN Access Points.
6. Can data be intercepted while transmitting through the air?
WLAN features two-fold protection in security. On the hardware side, as with Direct Sequence Spread
Spectrum technology, it has the inherent scrambling security feature. On the software side, the WLAN
series offers the encryption function (WEP/WPA) to enhance security and access control.
7. What is WEP?
WEP stands for Wired Equivalent Privacy, a data privacy mechanism based on a 64(40)-bit shared key
algorithm.
8. What is a MAC Address?
The Media Access Control (MAC) address is a unique number assigned by the manufacturer to any
Ethernet networking device, such as a network adapter, that allows the network to identify it at the
hardware level. For all practical purposes, this number is usually permanent. Unlike IP addresses,
which can change every time a computer logs on to the network, the MAC address of a device stays
the same, making it a valuable identifier for the network.
