3Com 3CRWEASYA73 / WL-575 User manual

www.3Com.com
User Guide
3Com Outdoor 11a Building to Building Bridge and
11bg Access Point
3CRWEASYA73 / WL-575
Part Number 10016517 Rev. AA
Published December, 2007

3Com Corporation
350 Campus Drive
Marlborough, MA
01752-3064
Copyright © 2007 3Com Corporation. All rights reserved. No part of this documentation may be reproduced in any form or by any
means or used to make any derivative work (such as translation, transformation, or adaptation) without written permission from
3Com Corporation.
3Com Corporation reserves the right to revise this documentation and to make changes in content from time to time without
obligation on the part of 3Com Corporation to provide notification of such revision or change.
3Com Corporation provides this documentation without warranty, term, or condition of any kind, either implied or expressed,
including, but not limited to, the implied warranties, terms or conditions of merchantability, satisfactory quality, and fitness for a
particular purpose. 3Com may make improvements or changes in the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in this
documentation at any time.
If there is any software on removable media described in this documentation, it is furnished under a license agreement included with
the product as a separate document, in the hard copy documentation, or on the removable media in a directory file named
LICENSE.TXT or !LICENSE.TXT. If you are unable to locate a copy, please contact 3Com and a copy will be provided to you.
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT LEGEND
If you are a United States government agency, then this documentation and the software described herein are provided to you
subject to the following:
All technical data and computer software are commercial in nature and developed solely at private expense. Software is delivered as
“Commercial Computer Software” as defined in DFARS 252.227-7014 (June 1995) or as a “commercial item” as defined in
FAR 2.101(a) and as such is provided with only such rights as are provided in 3Com’s standard commercial license for the Software.
Technical data is provided with limited rights only as provided in DFAR 252.227-7015 (November 1995) or FAR 52.227-14 (June
1987), whichever is applicable. You agree not to remove or deface any portion of any legend provided on any licensed program or
documentation contained in, or delivered to you in conjunction with, this User Guide.
Unless otherwise indicated, 3Com registered trademarks are registered in the United States and may or may not be registered in
other countries.
3Com, the 3Com logo, and SuperStack are registered trademarks of 3Com Corporation.
Wi-Fi is a trademark of the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance.
All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.
EXPORT RESTRICTIONS: This product contains Encryption and may require US and/or Local Government authorization prior to
export or import to another country.

iii
Contents
Introduction
Product Features 1-1
Radio Characteristics 1-2
APPROVED CHANNELS 1-2
Package Checklist 1-3
Hardware Description 1-4
Integrated High-Gain Antenna 1-4
External Antenna Options 1-4
Ethernet Port 1-5
Power Injector Module 1-5
Grounding Point 1-6
Water Tight Test Point 1-6
Wall- and Pole-Mounting Bracket Kit 1-7
System Configuration 1-7
Operating Modes 1-7
Point-to-Point Configuration 1-8
Point-to-Multipoint Configuration 1-8
Bridge Link Planning
Data Rates 2-2
Radio Path Planning 2-3
Antenna Height 2-4
Antenna Position and Orientation 2-6
Radio Interference 2-7
Weather Conditions 2-7
Ethernet Cabling 2-8
Grounding 2-8

iv
Hardware Installation
Testing Basic Link Operation 3-2
Mount the Unit 3-2
Using the Pole-Mounting Bracket 3-2
Using the Wall-Mounting Bracket 3-4
Connect External Antennas 3-6
Connect Cables to the Unit 3-7
Connect the Power Injector 3-7
Check the LED Indicators 3-9
Align Antennas 3-10
Initial Configuration
Networks with a DHCP Server 4-1
Networks without a DHCP Server 4-1
Using the 3Com Installation CD 4-2
Launch the 3COM Wireless Infrastructure Device Manager (Widman)
utility 4-2
Launching the 3com Wireless Interface Device Manager 4-2
First Time Only 4-4
Using the Setup Wizard 4-4
System Configuration
Advanced Setup 5-2
System Identification 5-4
TCP / IP Settings 5-5
RADIUS 5-8
RADIUS Accounting 5-11
Authentication 5-12
Filter Control 5-17
VLAN 5-17
SNMP 5-21
Configuring SNMP and Trap Message Parameters 5-22
Configuring SNMPv3 Users 5-27
Configuring SNMPv3 Groups 5-28
Configuring SNMPv3 Targets 5-28

v
Configuring SNMPv3 Filters 5-29
Rogue AP 5-30
AP Management 5-31
Telnet and SSH Settings 5-33
Administration 5-34
Changing the Password 5-34
Changing the country code 5-35
Upgrading Firmware 5-35
Auto-provisioning 5-38
WDS and Spanning Tree Settings 5-41
System Log 5-49
Enabling System Logging 5-49
Configuring SNTP 5-50
RSSI 5-52
Radio Interface 5-53
802.11a Interface 5-55
Configuring Radio Settings 5-55
Configuring Common Radio Settings 5-57
802.11b/g Interface 5-60
Configuring Wi-Fi Multimedia 5-64
Security 5-68
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) 5-71
Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) 5-75
Command Line Interface
Using the Command Line Interface 6-1
Accessing the CLI 6-1
Console Connection 6-1
Telnet Connection 6-2
Entering Commands 6-3
Keywords and Arguments 6-3
Minimum Abbreviation 6-3
Command Completion 6-3
Getting Help on Commands 6-3
Showing Commands 6-4
Partial Keyword Lookup 6-4
Negating the Effect of Commands 6-5

vi
Using Command History 6-5
Understanding Command Modes 6-5
Exec Commands 6-5
Configuration Commands 6-6
Command Line Processing 6-6
Command Groups 6-7
Troubleshooting
Cables and Pinouts
Twisted-Pair Cable Assignments B-1
10/100BASE-TX Pin Assignments B-2
Straight-Through Wiring B-3
Crossover Wiring B-4
8-Pin DIN Connector Pinout B-5
8-Pin DIN to RJ-45 Cable Wiring B-6
Glossary
Index

vii
TERMINOLOGY
Access Point—An internet working device that seamlessly connects
wired and wireless networks.
Ad Hoc—An ad hoc wireless LAN is a group of computers, each with
wireless adapters, connected as an independent wireless LAN.
Backbone—The core infrastructure of a network. The portion of the
network that transports information from one central location to another
central location where it is unloaded onto a local system.
Base Station—In mobile telecommunications, a base station is the
central radio transmitter/receiver that maintains communications with the
mobile radiotelephone sets within its range. In cellular and personal
communications applications, each cell or micro-cell has its own base
station; each base station in turn is interconnected with other cells’ bases.
BSS—Basic Service Set. It is an access point and all the LAN PCs that are
associated with it.
CSMA/CA—Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance.
EAP—Extensible Authentication Protocol, which provides a generalized
framework for several different authentication methods.
ESS—Extended Service Set. More than one BSS is configured to become
an ESS. LAN mobile users can roam between different BSSs in an ESS
(ESS-ID, SSID).
Ethernet—A popular local area data communications network, which
accepts transmission from computers and terminals.
Infrastructure—An integrated wireless and wired LAN is called an
infrastructure configuration.
RADIUS—Remote Access Dial-In User Server is an authentication method
used in conjunction with EAP for 802.1x authentication and session
based keys.
Roaming—A wireless LAN mobile user moves around an ESS and
maintains a continuous connection to the infrastructure network.

viii
RTS Threshold—Transmitters contending for the medium may not be
aware of each other (they are “hidden nodes”). The RTS/CTS mechanism
can solve this problem. If the packet size is smaller than the preset RTS
Threshold size, the RTS/CTS mechanism will not be enabled.
VAP—Virtual Access Point. An access point radio capable of operating as
four separate access points.
VLAN—Virtual Local Area Network. A LAN consisting of groups of hosts
that are on physically different segments but that communicate as
though they were on the same segment.
WEP—Wired Equivalent Privacy is based on the use of security keys and
the popular RC4 encryption algorithm. Wireless devices without a valid
WEP key will be excluded from network traffic.
WDS—Wireless Distribution System.
WPA—Wi-Fi Protected Access.

1-1
1INTRODUCTION
The 3Com Outdoor 11a Building to Building Bridge and 11bg Access Point system
provides point-to-point or point-to-multipoint bridge links between remote
Ethernet LANs, and wireless access point services for clients in the local LAN area.
It includes an integrated high-gain antenna for the 802.11a radio and can
operate as a “Slave” or “Master” bridge in point-to-multipoint configurations, or
provide a high-speed point-to-point wireless link between two sites that can be
up to 15.4 km (9.6 miles) apart. As a “Master” bridge in point-to-multipoint
configurations it can support connections to as many as six “Slave” units. The
802.11b/g radio requires an external antenna option.
The unit is housed in a weatherproof enclosure for mounting outdoors and
includes its own bracket for attaching to a wall, pole, radio mast, or tower
structure. The unit is powered through its Ethernet cable connection from a
power injector module that is installed indoors.
The wireless bridge system offers a fast, reliable, and cost-effective solution for
connectivity between remote Ethernet wired LANs or to provide Internet access to
an isolated site. The system is also easy to install and operate, ideal for situations
where a wired link may be difficult or expensive to deploy. The wireless bridge
connection provides data rates of up to 108 Mbps.
In addition, both wireless bridge models offer full network management
capabilities through an easy-to-use web interface, a command-line interface, and
support for Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) tools.
PRODUCT FEATURES
Supports a 5 GHz point-to-point wireless link up 15.4 km (at 6 Mbps data
rate) using the integrated high-gain 17 dBi antenna
Supports 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz point-to-multipoint links using various external
antenna options

1-2
Provides access point services for the 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz radios using various
external antenna options
Maximum data rate up to 108 Mbps on the 802.11a (5 GHz) radio
Outdoor weatherproof design
IEEE 802.11a and 802.11b/g compliant
Local network connection via 10/100 Mbps Ethernet port
Powered through its Ethernet cable connection to the power injector module
Brackets for wall- or pole-mount options
Security through 64/128/152-bit Wired Equivalent Protection (WEP) or 128-bit
Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) encryption
Scans all available channels and selects the best channel and data rate based
on the signal-to-noise ratio
Manageable through an easy-to-use web-browser interface, command line, or
SNMP network management tools
RADIO CHARACTERISTICS
The IEEE 802.11a and 802.11g standards use a radio modulation technique
known as Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), and a shared
collision domain (CSMA/CA). The 802.11a standard operates in the 5 GHz
Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (UNII) band, and the 802.11g
standard in the 2.4 GHz band.
IEEE 802.11g includes backward compatibility with the IEEE 802.11b standard.
IEEE 802.11b also operates at 2.4 GHz, but uses Direct Sequence Spread
Spectrum (DSSS) and Complementary Code Keying (CCK) modulation technology
to achieve a communication rate of up to 11 Mbps.
The wireless bridge provides a 54 Mbps half-duplex connection for each active
channel (up to 108 Mbps in turbo mode on the 802.11a interface).
APPROVED CHANNELS
Use of this product is only authorized for the channels approved by each country.
For proper installation, select your country from the country selection list.
To conform to FCC and other country restrictions your product may be limited in
the channels that are available. If other channels are permitted in your country
please visit the 3Com website for the latest software version.