Cabletron Systems RoamAbout Access Point Manual page 30

MAC Address
MAC Address
The MAC address is a unique identifier for networking devices. Each LAN device
(including Ethernet cards, bridges, routers, and gateways) is identified by a unique
factory-set MAC address.
RoamAbout Access Points have two MAC addresses:
•
One MAC address for the wired Ethernet interface, which is printed on the Access
Point.
•
One MAC address for the RoamAbout PC Card installed in the Access Point, which is
printed on a label on the back side of the card.
RoamAbout wireless clients are identified by the MAC address of the RoamAbout PC
Card.
You cannot change the universal MAC address of a networking device. However, some
network operating systems have a user-defined local MAC addressing scheme, which
requires that each device be identified by a local MAC address value. The universal MAC
address is aliased with a value according to the MAC addressing scheme. You can enter a
local MAC address value on a RoamAbout client, but not on a RoamAbout Access Point.
Most network systems do not require local MAC addresses.
Channel Frequencies
The channel sets the center radio frequency for the wireless device. The RoamAbout PC
Card can support up to 14 channels; however, the number of available channels varies in
different countries.
Access Points within the same wireless infrastructure network can be set to different
channels. You can change the channel in an Access Point, but you cannot change the
channel in a client. Instead, the client automatically uses the same channel as the Access
Point. In an ad-hoc network, the client can only use the factory-set channel.
Wireless clients automatically switch to the Access Point's channel when roaming between
Access Points in a wireless network; for example, there are two Access Points in a wireless
network where Access Point 1 uses channel 1 and Access Point 2 uses channel 6. When
connected to Access Point 1, the client automatically uses channel 1. When roaming to
Access Point 2, the client automatically changes to channel 6.
2-2 Understanding Wireless Network Characteristics