Roaming - ZyXEL Communications NWA-3160 - V3.70 Manual

Chapter 8 Wireless Screen
activity on the channel you select, it automatically instructs the wireless clients to
move to another channel, then resumes communications on the new channel.

8.3.3 Roaming

A wireless station is a device with an IEEE 802.11a/b/g compliant wireless
interface. An access point (AP) acts as a bridge between the wireless and wired
networks. An AP creates its own wireless coverage area. A wireless station can
associate with a particular access point only if it is within the access point's
coverage area.
In a network environment with multiple access points, wireless stations are able to
switch from one access point to another as they move between the coverage
areas. This is known as roaming. As the wireless station moves from place to
place, it is responsible for choosing the most appropriate access point depending
on the signal strength, network utilization or other factors.
The roaming feature on the access points allows the access points to relay
information about the wireless stations to each other. When a wireless station
moves from a coverage area to another, it scans and uses the channel of a new
access point, which then informs the other access points on the LAN about the
change. An example is shown in
With roaming, a wireless LAN mobile user enjoys a continuous connection to the
wired network through an access point while moving around the wireless LAN.
Enable roaming to exchange the latest bridge information of all wireless stations
between APs when a wireless station moves between coverage areas. Wireless
stations can still associate with other APs even if you disable roaming. Enabling
roaming ensures correct traffic forwarding (bridge tables are updated) and
maximum AP efficiency. The AP deletes records of wireless stations that associate
146
Figure 80 on page 147.
NWA-3160 Series User's Guide