Dell 2350 User Manual

Also see for 2350 - Wireless WLAN Broadband Router: Installation instructions Owner's manual Setup guide Installation guide Specifications

Identifying a WLANAn ESSID and BSSID are both Service Set Identifiers (SSID) that identify and control thewireless client’s access to a given WLAN. The SSID is sometimes referred to as the networkname. The SSID indicates what WLAN you are referring to. In most cases, the user interfacedisplays the SSID.When installing an access point or wireless adapter in a wireless client, the installationprogram asks you to enter the SSID. Dell cannot provide you with this information, as it isspecific to your network; but you may choose to use the default SSID, wireless, for yourWireless 2350. All wireless clients and access points in a WLAN must use the same networkname.EncryptionIn a WLAN, wireless clients and access points send and receive information through the air.Without implementing security, it is possible for an unauthorized person to intercept theinformation.A common way of implementing security and protecting information is encryption. Encryptionapplies a set of instructions, called an algorithm, to information. The instructions combine theplain or clear text of information with a sequence of hexadecimal numbers, called anencryption key.Before transmitting information over the airwaves, the wireless client or access point encryptsor scrambles the information. The access point or wireless client receiving the informationuses the same key to decrypt or unscramble the information. The information is only readableto WLAN devices that have the correct encryption key. The longer the key is, the stronger theencryption.The Wireless 2350 supports both Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) and Wi-Fi ProtectedAccess (WPA).WEPWEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) provides a way of creating an encrypted key that is sharedbetween a wireless client (such as a notebook with a wireless PC card) and the router. In theWireless 2350, WEP is an optional feature that can be enabled or disabled. When WEPencryption is enabled, you must set the WEP key in the client to match the WEP key used by