About Closed System Mode - Motorola 2200 Administrator's Handbook

France, Spain and Japan will differ. Channel selection can have a significant impact on performance,
depending on other wireless activity close to this Gateway. Channel selection is not necessary at the client
computers; the clients will scan the available channels seeking access points using the same SSID as the
client.
AutoChannel Setting: For 802.11G models, AutoChannel is a feature that allows the Motorola Netopia®
Gateway to determine the best channel to broadcast automatically.
Three settings are available from the pull-down menu: Off-Use default, At Startup, and Continuous.
• Off-Use default is the default setting; the Motorola Netopia® Gateway will use the configured default
channel selected from the previous pull-down menu.
•
At Startup causes the Motorola Netopia® Gateway at startup to briefly initialize on the default channel,
then perform a full two- to three-second scan, and switch to the best channel it can find, remaining on
that channel until the next reboot.
• Continuous performs the at-startup scan, and will continuously monitor the current channel for any
other Access Point beacons. If an Access Point beacon is detected on the same channel, the Motorola
Netopia® Gateway will initiate a three- to four-minute scan of the channels, locate a better one, and
switch. Once it has switched, it will remain on this channel for at least 30 minutes before switching
again if another Access Point is detected.
Enable Closed System Mode: If enabled, Closed System Mode hides the wireless network from the scan-
ning features of wireless client computers. Unless both the wireless clients and the Router share the same
SSID in Closed System mode, the Router's wireless LAN will not appear as an available network when
scanned for by wireless-enabled computers. Members of the Closed System WLAN must log onto the
Router's wireless network with the identical SSID as that configured in the router.
Closed System mode is an ideal way to increase wireless security and to prevent casual detection by
unwanted neighbors, office users, or malicious users such as hackers.
If you do not enable Closed System Mode, it is more convenient, but potentially less secure, for clients to
access your WLAN by scanning available access points. You must decide based on your own network
requirements.

About Closed System Mode

Enabling Closed System Mode on your wireless Gateway provides another level of security, since your wire-
less LAN will no longer appear as an available access point to client PCs that are casually scanning for one.
Your own wireless network clients, however, must log into the wireless LAN by using the exact SSID of the
Motorola Netopia® Gateway.
In addition, if you have enabled WEP encryption on the Motorola Netopia® Gateway, your network clients
must also have WEP encryption enabled, and must have the same WEP encryption key as the Motorola
Netopia® Gateway.
Once the Motorola Netopia® Gateway is located by a client computer, by setting the client to a matching
SSID, the client can connect immediately if WEP is not enabled. If WEP is enabled then the client must also
have WEP enabled and a matching WEP key.
Wireless client cards from different manufacturers and different operating systems accomplish connecting
to a wireless LAN and enabling WEP in a variety of ways. Consult the documentation for your particular wire-
less card and/or operating system.
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