Introduction To Wireless Distribution Bridges; Figure 31: Wds Bridge - Allied Telesis TQ6000 GEN2 Series Management Software User Manual

TQ6000 GEN2 Access Poinst User's Guide

Introduction to Wireless Distribution Bridges

A wireless distribution system (WDS) bridge is a wireless connection
between access points that allows units to forward traffic directly to each
other over a wireless connection, as if they were connected with a physical
Ethernet wire. The feature is typically used to extend networks into areas
where Ethernet cable installation might be impractical or expensive.
A WDS bridge consists of one parent and up to three children. The parent
is connected to the wired network through its LAN ports. The children
function as wireless clients of the parent, communicating with the wired
network over the WDS bridge to the parent. An example of a parent with
three children is shown in Figure 31.
Child
Parent
Child Child
Figure 31. WDS Bridge
When a child receives traffic from a wireless client that is intended for the
wired network, it transmits the traffic over the WDS bridge to the parent,
which forwards the packets on its LAN ports. Conversely, when a parent
receives traffic on the wired network intended for a wireless client
associated on a child, it transmits the packets to the child over the bridge.
A WDS bridge consists of a radio and a radio channel. You can use
Radio1 or Radio2 and any channel. An important rule to follow is that the
parent and children of a bridge must all use the same radio and channel.
The selected radio should only be used for the WDS bridge. Wireless
clients should use other radios to access the network.
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