Netgear WAC120 Reference Manual - Page 19

802.11ac Wireless Access Point Model WAC120 Note: The SSID of any wireless client must match the SSID you configured in the access point. If they do not match, you cannot get a wireless connection. 11. Select the Broadcast Wireless Network Name (SSID) Yes radio button. If you disable broadcast of the SSID, only devices that use the correct SSID can connect. This nullifies the wireless network discovery feature of some products such as Windows XP, but the data is still fully exposed to a determined snoop using specialized test equipment like wireless sniffers. By default, the Yes radio button is selected. 12. Ensure that the Auto is selected in the Channel / Frequency list. This feature selects a channel that ensures the least interference. You do not need to change the wireless channel unless you notice interference or are near another wireless access point. Select a channel that is not being used by any other wireless networks within several hundred feet of your access point. The wireless channel in use can be from 1 to 11 for the United States and Canada, or 1 to 13 for Europe and Australia. The default is Auto. Do not change the wireless channel unless you experience interference (shown by lost connections or slow data transfers). If this happens, you might need to experiment with different channels to see which is the best. If you select the Auto channel option, the access point automatically picks the channel with the least interference. When selecting or changing channels, bear these points in mind: • Access points use a fixed channel. You can select the channel used. This allows you to select a channel that provides the least interference and best performance. In the United States and Canada, 11 channels are available. • If you are using multiple access points, it is better if adjacent access points use different channels to reduce interference. NETGEAR recommends channel spacing between adjacent access points of 5 channels (for example, use Channels 1 and 6, or 6 and 11). • Wireless stations usually scan all channels, looking for an access point. If more than one access point can be used, the one with the strongest signal is used. This can happen only when the access points use the same SSID. Note: If you want to use wireless bridging and repeating, you must select a specific channel for your network. For more information, see Wireless Bridging and Repeating on page 39. 13. From the list, select the MCS Index/Data Rate. You can select the transmit data rate of the wireless network. Depending on the band selected, the set of rates varies. (When the auto channel is enabled in the 802.11ng mode, then the default channel width mode is 20 MHz. In this case, you cannot modify this parameter unless you change to a static channel.) For the possible supported data rates, see Technical Specifications on page 70. 14. From the list, select the Channel Width. Initial Setup 19