Based upon IEEE 802.11a technology and utilizing the same Cisco IOS Software
as in a wired network, the Cisco Aironet 1400 Series provides a user with a
familiar experience that supports an "out-of-the-box" deployment
,
.
The 1400 radio can be configured in three roles. A wireless bridge connected
to the main LAN network can be configured as a wireless root bridge to provide
support for point-to-point or point-to-multipoint bridging. Second, a wireless
bridge connected to a remote LAN network can be configured as a wireless
non-root bridge to allow operation as the remote node in a point-to-point or
point-to-multipoint network. Third, the antenna alignment assistance feature
provides a wireless bridge with an auto-configuration and installation mode for
out-of-box deployment of point-to-point links without requiring configuration
through telnet, file transfer protocol (FTP), or Simple Network Management
Protocol (SNMP). This mode drives LEDs and a received signal strength indicator
(RSSI) port with a voltage output proportional to the received signal strength
for use during the installation and alignment process. This allows a wireless
bridge installation team without knowledge of Cisco IOS software or data
networking to install and verify the quality of the wireless link.
Some
of the other features include the programmable clear channel assessment
feature, where the wireless bridge can be configured to a particular background
interference level found in a specific environment for reduced overhead
contention with other wireless systems. Next, the wireless packet concatenation
feature is the concatenation of smaller packets into larger ones to more
efficiently use the wireless medium and provide higher overall data throughputs
on a wireless bridge. Finally, the wireless link distance adjustment parameter
enables tuning of the CSMA/CA parameters for a particular range to maximize the
performance of a wireless bridge.
The following features in Cisco IOS
Release 12.2(11)JA are not supported by the bridge:
- Broadcast key rotation
- Hot standby
- Multiple service set identifiers (SSIDs)
- Proxy Mobile IP
- World mode