3Com WL-455 manual

http://www .3com.com/ http://www .3com.com/support/en_US/productreg/frontpg.html/ User Guide W ir eless LAN Access Point 7250 3CRWE725075 (Model WL-455) Published December , 2003[...]

3Com Corporation 350 Campus Drive Marlbo rough, M A 01752-3064 Copyright © 2003 3Com Corporation . All rights reserved. No part of this documentation may be reproduced in any form or by any means or used to make any derivative work (such as translation, transformation, or adaptati on) without written permissi on from 3Com Corporation. 3Com Corpora[...]

I NTR ODUCTION Product Features - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4 Security - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 4 Performance and Reliability - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 5 Manageability - - - - - - - - - - - - -[...]

Configuration Logi n - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 26 Setting the Country C ode - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 26 Basic Setup - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 27 Advanced Setup - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -[...]

T ECHNICAL S UPPORT Obtaining Suppo rt for your Product - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 52 Register Y our Product to Gain Service Benefits- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 52 Purchase V alue-Added Serv ices - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 52 Where T o Go For Help - - - [...]

4 1 I NTR ODUCTION The 3Com® W ireless LAN Acc ess Point 7250 supports 802.1 1g a nd 802.1 1b wireless users. W ith their flex ibility and un fettered acce ss, wirel ess LANs are changing the way people work. Now with 3 Com’ s enterp rise-class wireless access p oints, you can build a cost-ef fective, reliable, secure wireless network that prov [...]

5 P ERFORMANC E AND R ELIA BILITY 3Com wireless access point performance fe atures ensure reliable and seamless connections for users wherever they roam. Automatic channel se lection automatica lly finds the least loa ded channel for interferenc e-free communication. Auto n etwork connect and dy namic rate shifting keep use rs connected through a w[...]

6 • Implementing a complete wireless LAN so lution, including b ridges, gateways, access points and clients; W i-Fi cer tification guarantees compati bility among vendors. • Providing access to hot spots in public sp aces, such as coffee shops or university cafeterias. N ETWORK C ONFIGURATION AND P LANNING The wireless solution supp orts a stan[...]

7 I NFRASTRUCTU RE W IR ELESS LAN The access point can also prov ide access to a wired LAN for wireless workstations. An integrated wire d/wireless LAN is called an infrastructure co nfiguration. A Basic Service Set (BSS) consist s of a group of wire less PC users, and an access point that is directly connect ed to the wired LAN. Each wire less PC [...]

8 T ERMINOLOGY Access Point —An internetwork ing device that seamlessly connects wired and wireless networks. Ad Hoc —An ad hoc wireless LAN is a group of computers, each with LAN adapters, connected as an i ndependent wirele ss LAN. Backbone —The core infrastructure of a network. Th e portion of the network that transports information from o[...]

9 EAP —Extensible Aut hentication Protocol , wh ich provides a generalized framework for several dif ferent authentication methods. ESS —Extended Service Set. More than one B SS is configured to b ecome an ESS. LAN mobile users can roam between diff erent BSSs in an ESS (ESS-ID, SSID). Ethernet —A popular local area data commun ications netwo[...]

10 2 I NSTALLING THE A CCESS P OINT This equipment must be installed in compliance with lo cal and national building codes, regulatory restrictions, and FCC rul es. For the safety of people and equipment, this product must be inst alled by a professi onal technician/ins taller . I NSTALLATION R EQUIR EMENTS The following it ems are required for ins[...]

11 operating systems: Windows 98, W i ndows ME, W indows NT 4.0 Service Pack 6, W indows 2000, or W indows XP . It is recommended that this comp uter become the dedicated workstation for managi ng an d configuring th e ac cess point and the wireless network. P OWER R EQUIR EMENTS The access point complies with the IEEE 802.3af Power - over-Ethernet[...]

12 D ECIDING W HER E TO P LACE E QUIPMENT AND P ERFORMING A S ITE S URVEY The access po int is ideally design ed for vertical installat ion on a wall surface, but can also be flat-su rface mounted in an e levated location where it will not be dist urbed. Ceiling insta llation is not recomme nded. Whether you choose to mount th e access point on a w[...]

13 For optimal p erformanc e, ensure the ac cess point operates in temperature ranges between 0° C to 40° C (32° F to 104 ° F). Wh en used with external antennas, the access point operating temperature range must be 15 ° C to 40° C (59° F to 104° F). B EFOR E Y OU B EGIN Record the access point MAC ad dress and serial number in a safe place[...]

14 C ONNECTING THE S TANDARD A NTENNAS The Access Point 7250 is supp li ed with standard detachable antennas. These should be attached before the acce ss point is installed. If using al ternate an tennas, see “Selecting and Connecting a Different Antenna Mo del” on page 20. 1 Carefully unpack the st andard detac hable ante nnas. 2 Screw an ante[...]

15 There are three ways to supp ly po wer to the access point: • Use the AC adapter incl uded with the Access Point 7250 • Use a 3Com Integ rated Power-ove r-Ethernet power su pply . In this case, you need to supply a secon d Ethernet cab le to connect to the wired LAN. • Connect the access point directly to your own power-over -Ethernet hub [...]

16 U SING A N O PTIONAL P OWER -O VER -E THERNET I NJECTOR The Power -Over-Ethernet Inje ct or can be located at any point between the access point and the LAN access port, wherever a convenie nt power outlet exists. If you sup ply your own Eth ernet cable for connecti ng powe r , be sure that it is standard category 5 straight-through (8-w ire) ca[...]

17 U SING A P OWER -O VER -E THERNET LAN P ORT If your LAN equi pment complies with the IEEE 802.3af po wer-ove r-Etherne t standard, you can connect the access poi nt directly to a LAN port. For exam ple, the illustration abov e right shows a connect ion through a 3Com Et hernet Power Supply to a 3Com SuperStac k ® Switch. C HECKING THE LED S Whe[...]

18 M OUNTING ON A W ALL The access point comes equipp ed with all the necessar y hardware for mounting on a wall, includin g a mounting plate. For a secure installa tion, the mounting plate should be placed perpendicular to th e floor , with th e arrow poin ted up, as indicated on the mounting pla te, with the smooth si de against the wall. 1 Insta[...]

19 Alternatively , you can simply attach the Ethernet cable to t he side of the unit, allowing it to trail along the wal l. • If you have routed the Ethernet cable through the cent er opening, secure the cable on the hook lo cated on the moun ting plate as shown in th e illustration below . 2 Connect the Ethernet ca ble to the Et herne t port on [...]

20 S ELECTING AND C ONNECTING A D IFFERENT A NTENNA M ODEL The standard detachable a ntenn as supplied with the Access Point 7250 are suitable for a broad variety of environment s. If you require a different type of antenna for the Access Point 7250, sev eral options are available by model number from the 3 Com W e b site (www .3Com.com). For each [...]

21 Antennas can be connected to either side of the access point after the standard detachable antennas have been removed, as shown below . 1 Position the an tenna so that there are minimal obstacles between it and any client with which it will communicate. While mai ntaining a direct li ne of sight between the antenna and a client is not strictly n[...]

22 P OWER S ETTINGS ON THE A CCESS P OINT FOR E XTERNAL A NTENNAS USA European Community 2.5dBi (3CWE492) 4dBi (3CWE490, 3CWE497) 8dBi (3CWE491, 3CWE498) 6 ft (3CWE480) 100% 100% 100% 20ft (3CWE481) 100% 100% 100% 50 ft (3CWE482) 100% 100% 100% 2.5dBi (3CWE492) 4dBi (3CWE490, 3CWE497) 8dBi (3CWE491, 3CWE498) 13dBi (3CWE495) 6 ft (3CWE480) 100% 100%[...]

23 I NSTALLING S OFTWAR E U TILITIES The installation CD includes documentat ion and software utilitie s to help you set up and administer the wi reless co mponents of your network. T o view produc t documentation, select V iew the Documentation from the CD Startup Menu and th en select the item you wish to view . The software T ools and Utili ties[...]

24 3 S YSTEM C ONFIGURATION The access po int can be configured using a W eb browser that has Java support (Internet Explorer 5.0 or newer). Usin g the W eb management interface, you can configure the access point a nd view st atistic s to mon itor netw ork activ ity . The 3Com W ireless Infrastructure Device Manager helps y ou locate 3Com wireless[...]

25 exclamation points (!). Y ou can re fresh this display by clicking Refr esh . Y ou should refre sh the display , for example, after you change a devi ce IP address. 2 In the W ireless Network T ree, select the device you want to configur e. If more than one wireless LAN devi ce appear s in the tree and you are not sure that you have sele cted th[...]

26 U SING THE P RE -IP C ONFIGURATION W IZARD Y ou can only co nfigure devices tha t are on the same subnet as your computer . T o configure a device on a different subnet, you must fi rst assign it an IP address on the same subnet as your comp uter . Aft er you launch the configuration, you can chan ge settings as usu al. Just before yo u finish, [...]

27 B ASIC S ETUP For a basic configuration, use the Set up W izard as described below . At any time, you c an click Home to return to the Home page of the config uration interface. If you want to configure more advanced feat ures, click Advanced Setup in the Home page. 1 In the Home page, click Setu p W izar d. 2 In the “1-2-3” Setup W izard pa[...]

28 A DVANCED S ETUP The Advanced Setup pages allo w you to config ure features that are not available in the basic setup. On the Home page, click Advanced Setup to open the Advanced Setup menu. After making selec tions and entering data on each page , click Apply to save the changes. The following sections describe th e Advanced Setup pa ges. I DEN[...]

29 example, www .3Com.com) . Y our internet service provider sh ould provid e the IP address of one or more domain name servers. Enter th ose addresses in Primary DNS Address and Secondary DNS Address fields. S ECURE W EB S ERVER C ONNECTION This option controls whe ther Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology is used to encrypt information between th[...]

30 See below for recomme nded steps in configuring RADI US Authentication. In the RADIUS Authenticat ion section, enter the required parameters for a primary and secondary RADIUS authent ication server . In the RADIUS Accounting section, click the Enable radio button, then enter required parameters for a primary and seco ndary RAD IUS accounting se[...]

31 Authentic ation, clie nts attempti ng to authenticate to the access point MUST pass thes e settings before any subsequent 802.1x authentication is attempted and verified. If no MAC address filtering is d esired, leave this set to the default setting of Disab le. Configure the o ptions as described below . When you are finished , click Apply . ?[...]

32 • Access Point 802.1x Auth entication to Network —802.1x c an also be enable d on the ethernet port of the switch that the a ccess point ’ s ethernet cable is plugged in to. Having 802.1x e nabled on the switch prevents any devic e that is not able to successfully au thenticate from bein g able to use the ethernet port. This opti on is use[...]

33 F ILTER C ONTR OL The Filter Control page allo ws you to control cl ient communication with in the wireless network. Y ou may enable one or more types of supported filtering; howev er , some filter choices may sup ersede others. Configure the options as descri bed below . When you are finished, clic k Apply . F ILTERING BY VLAN The access po int[...]

34 T unnel_Private_ group_ID (81) = VLAN ID specified in Hexa decimal format. VLAN Switch ports must be tagg ed ports that match the VLAN ID on the Ac cess Point. Associated cli ent VLAN IDs will ap pear in the Syslog file i n ASCII Decimal format. When VLAN filtering is enab led, the ac cess point queries the server for the VLAN IDs of associatin [...]

35 client-to-client communications bet ween client s associated with different AP’ s on the local subnet. For instance an airport may ha ve several AP’ s to serv ice several "hot spots" within th e airport. Ho wever the client-to-cl ient bloc king feature of th e AP will only block communicati ons to other clients associated with the [...]

36 first be enabled and the Network Ma nagement St ation must submit a valid community string for authentication. Select SNMP En able and enter data in to the fields as described below . When you ar e finished, click Apply . • Location —Specifies the acce ss point location. • Contact —Sets the system location string th at describes the syst[...]

37 you save acce ss point settings in an extern al file or copy them from an external file to the access point. Y ou can save an entire configuration for use as a backup to a single access po int, or you can save a basic configuration, which can then be used in common by severa l access points in a network, providing an easy way to reconfigure all [...]

38 • Alert: action must b e taken immediately • Critical: critical conditions • Erro r: error conditions • Wa r n i n g : warning conditions • Notice: normal but significa nt condition • Informational: informational messages • Debug: debug-level messa ges T o set up a server for event logs : Se lect System Log Setup Enable, select a l[...]

39 R ADIO I NTERFACE The access po int radio interface detects the number of radios installed and their type (802.1 1g Ra dio or 802.1 1b Rad io). The Radio Setti ngs and Security optio ns for the radio interface are described in the following sections. R ADIO S ETTINGS When you are finished configurin g items on this page, c lick Apply . • SSID [...]

40 • Fragment Length (256-2346) —The Fragment Le ngth can be set between 256 and 2,346. If the packet size is smaller than t h e prese t fragment size , the pack et will not be segmented. Fragmentation of the PDUs (Package Data Unit) can increase the reliability of transmissions because it increases the prob ability of a successful transmission[...]

41 S ECURITY The Security pag e allows you to set u p lower -layer client authe ntication and data encryption parameters as described below . When you are finished config uring items on this page, click Apply . C ONFIGURING A UTHENTICATION Three types of authentica tion can be configure d: • Open System (the defa ult)—Allows access to everyone.[...]

42 C ONFIGURING E NCRYPTION There are two types of da ta encryption availabl e: • WP A—W i-Fi Protected Access. • WEP—W ired Equivalent Privacy . The access point and the wireless devices must have the same encryption settings to communicate . Y ou can choose to allo w only clients usin g WP A encryption, or you can allow both WP A and WEP [...]

43 WP A Note: The WP A key management must match th e settings on the Authenticatio n Page. When using 802.1x, the access poin t uses session keys pr ovided duri ng the 802.1x EAP key exchange as the “seed key” for WP A. This is more secure than PSK, since each client starts with a un ique session key for all subsequent keys gen erated. Otherwi[...]

44 128-bit—Each key co ntains 26 hexadecimal digits or 13 alphan umeric characters. 152-bit—Each key contains 3 2 hexadecima l digits o r 16 alph anumeric characters. 3Com Passphrase—Th is encryption string is for use on ly with other 3Com W ireless LAN devices. It is a case-sensitiv e string between 6 and 30 characters long. T o enter the st[...]

45 d Cipher Mode is set to WEP . e WEP Configuration has at least one valid WEP key . f Click on Apply . 11 The Access Point i s now configur ed for RADIUS Aut henticatio n. H OW TO SETUP THE ACCESS POINT FOR WP A WITH 802.1 X S ESSION KEYS 1 Using the W ireless Infrastru cture Device Manger access the configuration screen for the AP8x00/AP82x0. 2 [...]

46 f WP A Key Management set to WP A Authenticatio n over 802.1x. g Click on Apply . 11 The Access Point is n ow configured for WP A Authentica tion over 802.1x. H OW TO SETUP THE ACCESS POINT FOR WP A WITH P RE -S HAR ED (PSK) K EY 1 Using the W ireless Infrastru cture Device Manger access the configuration screen for the AP8x00/AP82x0. 2 Enter yo[...]

47 WP A C ONFIGURATION FOR W INDOWS XP The following ta ble shows how to configure th e access point to supp ort the various authenticati on and encryptio n options available for W indows XP W ireless Zero Configuration. The following notes apply to conf iguring the access point for WP A under W indows XP: • A WP A-capable wireless ne twork inter[...]

48 WPA-PSK AES Not available on 8200 TKIP Open System Enable WPA Configuration: Required Multicast Cipher Mode: TKIP WPA Key Manageme nt: WPA-PSK Select Key Type and en ter Pre-Shared Key WEP Open System Enable WPA Configuration: Required Multicast Cipher Mode: WEP WPA Key Manageme nt: WPA-PSK Select Key Type and en ter Pre-Shared Key Windows XP Wi[...]

49 4 T R OUBLESHOOTING If you have dif ficulty with the 3Com W ireless LAN access point, first check the following items in the configuration: • Radio Setti ngs page: Ensure th at the SSID is the same on clients and the access point. • Security pag e: Ensure that Enc ryption is the same on clients and the access point. • Authenticat ion page:[...]

50 No operation. Verify the access point configura tion. Review access point firmw are revisions and update firmware if necessary. Make sure that there are no duplicate IP addresses on the network. Unplug the access point and ping the assigned address to make sure that no other device responds to that address. Access point powers up, but does not a[...]

51 While you are configuring the access point, the Configuration Management System stops responding. To maintain wireless a ssociation, the service area and the security settings on the client and the access point must match exactly. Therefore, if you are associated with the access point that you are configuring and you change the access point serv[...]

52 A T ECHNICAL S UPPORT O BTAINING S UPPORT FOR YOUR P R ODUCT R EGISTER Y OUR P RODUCT TO G AIN S ERVICE B ENEFITS T o take advantage of warranty and other service benefi ts, you must first register your product at http://eSupp ort.3com.com/ . 3Com eSupport serv ices are based on accounts that you crea te or ha ve authorization to access. First t[...]

53 A CCESS S OFTWARE D OWNLOADS Software Updates are the bug fix / maint enance rel eases for the version of software initially purchased with t he product. In order to access these Software Up dates you must first register you r product on the 3Com web site at http://eSuppo rt.3 com.com/ First time users will need to apply for a us er name and pas[...]

54 Country T elephone Number Country T elephone Number Asia, Pacific Rim T elephone T echnical S upport and Repair Australia Hong Kong India Indonesia Japan Malaysia New Zealand Pakistan 1 800 678 5 15 800 933 48 6 +61 2 9424 5179 or 0 0 0 8 00 65 0 1111 001 803 61 009 00531 616 439 or 03 5977 7991 1800 801 777 0800 446 398 +61 2 9937 5083 Philippi[...]

55 Latin Americ a: T elephone T e chnical Support and Repair . Y ou can obtain su pport in this reg ion using the foll owing URLs: Latin Amer ica. Spanish speakers, enter the URL: http://lat.3com.com/lat/support/form.html Portuguese speakers, enter the URL: http://lat.3com.com/br/support/form.html English speakers in Latin Amer ica should send e-ma[...]

R EGULATOR Y C OMPLIA NCE I NFORMATION 3Com Wir eless LAN Access Point 7250 (Model WL-455) FCC Radio-Frequency Exposure Notice This device generates a nd radiates radio-frequency energy. In order to comp ly with FCC radio-frequency radiation exposure guidelines for an uncontrolled en vironment, this equipment has to be install ed and operated while[...]

To prevent radio interference to the li censed service, this device i s intended to be operated indoors and away from wind ows to provide maximum shield ing. Equipment (or its t ransmit antenna) that i s installed outdoors is subj ect to licensing. The installer of th is radio equipmen t must ensure that th e antenna is locate d or pointed such tha[...]

Safety Compliance Notice This device has been tested an d certi fied according to the following safet y st andards and is intended for use onl y in Informati on Technology Equipment which has been tested and certi fied to th ese or othe r equivalent standards: • UL Standard 60950, 3rd Editi on / CSA C22.2 No. 60950-00 • IEC 60950 • EN 60950 P[...]

Numbers 3Com 3CDaemon Server Tool - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 22 3Com Network Supervisor - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 22 3Com Passphrase encryption - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 43 3Com Wireless Infrastructure Device Manager - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 22, 24 802[...]

beacon interval - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 39 bridge resetting - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 29 broadcast key refresh rate - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 31 C cable - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -[...]

Dynamic Security Link 128-Bit - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 40 E encryption 3Com Passphrase - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 43 configuring - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 41 shared key - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 43 WE[...]

refreshing after changing - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 25 troubleshooting - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 50 L launching the device manager - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 24 LEDs - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 17 local br[...]

password - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 36 changing for 128-bit Dynamic Security Link - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 41 planning a network - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 6 power - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 11 connec[...]

shared key - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 40 shared key encryption - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 43 Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 35 software utilities, installing - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 22, 23 [...]