Workgroup Bridge - Cisco WAP551 Administration Manual

Wireless

WorkGroup Bridge

WorkGroup Bridge
NOTE
Cisco Small Business WAP551 and WAP561 Wireless-N Access Point
The WDS ID can be any alphanumeric combination.
• Key—Enter a unique shared key for the WDS bridge. This unique shared key must
also be entered for the WAP device at the other end of the WDS link. If this key is not
the same for both WAPs, they will not be able to communicate and exchange data.
The WPA-PSK key is a string of at least 8 characters to a maximum of 63 characters.
Acceptable characters include uppercase and lowercase alphabetic letters, the numeric
digits, and special symbols such as @ and #.
The WAP device WorkGroup Bridge feature enables the WAP device to extend the
accessibility of a remote network. In WorkGroup Bridge mode, the WAP device acts as a
wireless station (STA) on the wireless LAN. It can bridge traffic between a remote wired
network or associated wireless clients and the wireless LAN that is connected using the
WorkGroup Bridge mode.
The WorkGroup Bridge feature enables support for STA-mode and AP-mode operation
simultaneously. The WAP device can operate in one Basic Service Set (BSS) as an STA device
while operating on another BSS as a WAP device. When WorkGroup Bridge mode is enabled,
the WAP device supports only one BSS for wireless clients that associate with it, and another
BSS with which the WAP device associates as a wireless client.
It is recommended that WorkGroup Bridge mode be used only when the WDS bridge feature
cannot be operational with a peer WAP device. WDS is a better solution and is preferred over
the WorkGroup Bridge solution. When the WorkGroup Bridge feature is enabled, the VAP
configurations are not applied; only the WorkGroup Bridge configuration is applied.
The WDS feature does not work when the WorkGroup Bridge mode is enabled on the WAP
device.
In WorkGroup Bridge mode, the BSS managed by the WAP device while operating in WAP
device mode is referred to as the access point interface, and associated STAs as downstream
STAs. The BSS managed by the other WAP device (that is, the one to which the WAP device
associates as an STA) is referred to as the infrastructure client interface, and the other WAP
device is referred as the upstream AP.
The devices connected to the wired interface of the WAP device, as well as the downstream
stations associated with the access point interface of the device, can access the network
connected by the infrastructure client interface. To allow the bridging of packets, the VLAN
configuration for the access point interface and wired interface should match that of the
infrastructure client interface.
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