Wireless Coverage - Motorola AP-51 series Product Reference Manual

(demodulates) the signal by reapplying the direct sequence chipping code. This demodulation results
in the original digital data.
The access point uses its environment (the air and certain objects) as the transmission medium.The
access point can either transmit in the 2.4 to 2.5-GHz frequency range (802.11b/g radio) or the 5 GHz
frequency range (802.11a radio), the actual range is country-dependent. Motorola devices, like other
Ethernet devices, have unique, hardware encoded Media Access Control (MAC) or IEEE addresses.
MAC addresses determine the device sending or receiving data. A MAC address is a 48-bit number
written as six hexadecimal bytes separated by colons. For example: 00:A0:F8:24:9A:C8
Also see the following sections:
•

Wireless Coverage

• MAC Layer Bridging
• Content Filtering
• DHCP Support
• Media Types
• Direct-Sequence Spread Spectrum
• MU Association Process
• Operating Modes
• Management Access Options
• AP-51xx MAC Address Assignment
1.3.1 Wireless Coverage
An access point establishes an average communication range with MUs called a Basic Service Set
(BSS) or cell. When in a particular cell, the MU associates and communicates with the access point
supporting the radio coverage area of that cell. Adding access points to a single LAN establishes
more cells to extend the range of the network. Configuring the same ESSID (Extended Service Set
Identifier) on all access points makes them part of the same Wireless LAN.
Access points with the same ESSID define a coverage area. A valid ESSID is an alphanumeric, case-
sensitive identifier up to 32 characters. An MU searches for an access point with a matching ESSID
and synchronizes (associates) to establish communications. This device association allows MUs
within the coverage area to move about or roam. As the MU roams from cell to cell, it associates with
a different access point. The roam occurs when the MU analyzes the reception quality at a location
and determines a different access point provides better signal strength and lower MU load
distribution.
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Introduction