SMC Networks EliteConnect Wireless Bridge SMC2586W-G - Manual (Page 31)

those networks where SMC2682W Wireless Bridge Slaves are already
installed. The Bridge Master enables Bridge Slaves to automatically associ-
ate with it. It also enables IEEE 802.11 Stations, which are on the same LAN
as the Bridge Master, to automatically associate with it via the standard
IEEE 802.11 association process. In addition, the IEEE 802.11 WDS (Wireless
Distribution System) technology can be used to manually establish wireless
links between two Bridge Masters or between a Bridge Master and an AP.
• Bridge Slave (BS). Use this mode to provide the Bridge Slave functionality
of the SMC2682W. The Bridge Slave mode is designed to work in those net-
works where SMC2682W Wireless Bridge Masters are already installed.
In any mode, the SMC2586W-G forwards packets between its Ethernet inter-
face and wireless interface for wired hosts on the Ethernet side and wireless
host(s) on the wireless side.
There are 3 types of wireless links between two SMC2586W-Gs or between
an SMC2586W-G and another wireless device.
• STA-AP. This type of wireless link is specified in the IEEE 802.11 standard
for communication between an IEEE 802.11 Station (STA) and an IEEE 802.11
Access Point (AP). An STA is usually a client computer (PC or PDA) with a
WLAN network interface card (NIC).
• WDS. This type of wireless link is specified in the IEEE 802.11 standard for
communication between two IEEE 802.11 APs. Wireless packets transmitted
along the WDS link comply with the IEEE 802.11 WDS (Wireless Distribution
System) format at the link layer.
• BM-BS. This type of wireless link is propriety and was used in the legacy
SMC2682W for providing LAN-to-LAN bridging services. To establish this
type of wireless link between two SMC2682W, one SMC2682W must be in
Bridge Master (BM) mode and the other must be in Bridge Slave (BS) mode.
The SMC2586W-G provides this type of wireless link for backward compati-
bility with the SMC2682W.
The relationships among the operational modes and the wireless link types
are shown in the following table:
Table 2. Operational modes vs. wireless link types.
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