Configuration using a wireless computer, Wireless network terms and concepts, Ssid (service set identifier) and channels – Brother MFC-685CW User Manual
Page 28: Ssid, Channels, Authentication and encryption
Configuring your machine for a wireless network
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Configuration using a wireless computer.
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If your computer has wireless capability, you will need to change the wireless settings of the computer to Ad-
hoc mode so you can directly connect and configure the machine.
Wireless network terms and concepts
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When you configure the wireless network machine, you must ensure that your wireless network machine is
configured to match the settings of the existing wireless network. This section provides some of main terms
and concepts of these settings, which may be helpful when you configure the wireless network machine.
SSID (Service Set Identifier) and channels
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You need to configure the SSID and a channel to specify the wireless network you want to connect to.
SSID
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Each wireless network has its own unique network name and it is technically referred to as SSID or ESSID
(Extended Service Set Identifier). The SSID is a 32-byte or less value and is assigned to the access point.
The wireless network devices you want to associate to the wireless network should match the access point.
The access point and wireless network devices regularly send wireless packets (referred to as a beacon)
which has the SSID information. When your wireless network device receives a beacon, you can identify the
wireless network that is close enough for the radio waves to reach your device.
Channels
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Wireless networks use channels. Each wireless channel is on a different frequency. When configuring your
Brother device to work in a wireless network, you must set it to the channel that is used on the wireless
network that you are connecting to. There are up to 14 different channels that can be used when using a
wireless network. However, in many countries the number of channels available are restricted. For further
information, see Ethernet wireless network on page 120.
Authentication and encryption
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Most wireless networks use some kind of security settings. These security settings define the authentication
(how the device identifies itself to the network) and encryption (how the data is encrypted as it is sent on the
network). If you do not correctly specify these options when you are configuring your Brother wireless device,
it will not be able to connect to the wireless network. Therefore care must be taken when configuring these
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