Proxim 7921 Network Card User Manual


 
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Please note that changes to these parameters will not take affect
until either the radio or the Ethernet Adapter is reset.
A RangeLAN2 Ethernet Adapter may be set as either a Master or
a Station using the Station Type parameter within the configura-
tion menu. You may also choose “U” for Use Switch to use the
value specified by the Station/Master rotary switch. The rotary
switch is set to Station by default.
Proxim’s RangeLAN2 products are frequency hopping spread
spectrum radios which communicate in the 2.4GHz frequency
band. This means that several times every second, the frequency
at which the units are communicating changes.
In order for the units to communicate, in each subnetwork there
must be one unit that coordinates the frequency hops. This unit
is called the Master. It might help you to think of the Master as
the conductor of a frequency hopping orchestra. The Master
keeps time so all units know when to hop and to what frequency.
Units classified as Stations synchronize to the Master and follow
its signal to learn what frequency in the pattern the Master is
currently using.
There must be at least one unit on the network designated as the
Master. In an Ad Hoc topology, there is only one master, but it
does not matter which unit is designated as the Master. How-
ever, in topologies where a RangeLAN2 Access Point is present,
the Access Point will be the Master and each Ethernet Adapter
should be set as a Station.
In small networks where a RangeLAN2 Ethernet Adapter is used
as a Workgroup Concentrator, the Ethernet Adapter will be
configured as the Master and all other wireless units will be
configured as Stations.