Cisco Aironet Base Station FAQ
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Contents
Introduction
This document provides information on commonly asked questions about Cisco Aironet Base Stations.
Note: This product has reached the end of its life cycle. Cisco no longer supports this product after September 3, 2006.
Basics
Q. Where can I download the latest software?
A. Cisco Aironet equipment operates best when you load all components with current versions of software. You can download the latest software and drivers at the Cisco Software Center.
Q. How can I recover forgotten passwords or recall the factory defaults on the base station?
A. Because there is no password setup on the base station, you must reset the base station to the factory defaults by pressing the Reset pinhole button for two seconds. When you press this reset, you reset the unit to its default, out-of-the-box state.
Q. Why does the middle Status LED always blink yellow or amber?
A. The base station starts with default Service Set Identifier (SSID) and Encryption settings. When a yellow or amber light blinks it is a visual alert that you have not personalized your installation or changed the factory default settings. When you change the SSID or Encryption settings, you change the Status LED to blink or solid green.
Capabilities
Q. What speed is the Ethernet port of the base station?
A. The Ethernet port of the base station supports 10 Mbps in half-duplex mode over a 10BaseT RJ-45 connector. There is no option to change the speed and duplex settings on the LAN port.
Q. What is the typical range of a base station?
A. The indoor range (typical home environment) and outdoor range of a base station depends upon the speed:
Indoor Range
100 ft (30m) at 11 Mbps
300 ft (90m) at 1 Mbps
Outdoor Range
300 ft (90m) at 11 Mbps
1000 ft (300m) at 1 Mbps
Q. Can I roam between base stations?
A. No, no roam function is built into the base station.
Q. How can I manage the base station?
A. The base station does not have a console connector. Configure the base station with one of these methods:
Install the Base Station Client Utility (BSCU) on the Wireless client. Ensure that the client gets an IP address through DHCP from the base station. This IP address must be in the 192.168.200.x range. Then launch BSCU and configure the base station.
Type http://192.168.200.1 into the Address or Location field of your web browser. The base station comes pre-configured with this IP address. When this IP address is typed into the browser, a connection with the base station is established.
Issue the telnet command at a command prompt, as shown:
> telnet 192.168.200.1
Association
Q. How many clients can I associate to the base station?
A. You can associate a maximum of 253 clients to a base station. You can lease 100 IP addresses from the DHCP server of the base station. Additional clients must use static IP addresses between 192.168.200.102 and 192.168.200.254.
Q. Can a base station associate with a Workgroup Bridge?
A. Yes, a Workgroup Bridge and a base station can associate with each other if the base station is in Access Point mode.
Q. Where can I find the radio frequency (RF) association table?
A. A base station association table is not maintained, but you can check the association when you view the Log and Alarm History menu from the base station homepage or from the menu in the Base Station Client Utility (BSCU).
Configuration
Q. Why does the base station not accept changes set through a browser?
A. When you modify the configuration through a browser, you must press Enter after you set each parameter.
Q. When I try to set up my base station to use my PPP over Ethernet (PPPoE) Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), and I am asked for a “service name.” What is a service name, and where do I find it?
A. The service name is the domain name of your Internet Service Provider (ISP). For example, the service name for Cisco would be cisco.com. It may also be the name of the ADSL device at the end of your connection for the provider. For example, if Cisco had an ADSL concentrator named 192.168.1.1-sj_ca.6400.dslam1.cisco.com that physically provided your ADSL service, you would use the name 6400.dslam1 as your service name. Your ISP can provide this configuration information based on the services that you have on the phone line.
Q. If I use the Base Station Client Utility (BSCU) to change the settings of the base station (for example, the Service Set Identifier [SSID]), will the client be de-associated?
A. No, BSCU changes the settings of the client that transmitted the change as well as the settings of the base station itself. Other clients, however, may be de-associated, but that depends on the parameter that is changed.
IP Addressing
Q. Can I use static IP addresses on wireless and wired clients?
A. Yes, you can use static IP addresses in the 192.168.200.102 to 192.168.200.254 range.
Q. Can I change the internal IP address (192.168.200.1) or the DHCP address pool (192.168.200.2-101) of the base station?
A. No, the internal IP address and DHCP address pool are not configurable.
Q. How can I find the external or DHCP IP address of a base station?
A. You can use the web interface to locate the external or DHCP IP address at the bottom of the base station homepage or inside the Log and Alarm History menu.
Q. How long does a DHCP lease from the base station last?
A. A DHCP lease from the base station lasts for one day.
Q. Why can I not browse or use Telnet to access the base station at its external IP address?
A. The base station is designed to prevent Telnet or browser connections for security reasons. Although you can not connect to the IP address, you can use the ping command to verify that the base station is alive on the network. You can only use a web browser or Telnet to access the internal IP address of the base station (192.168.200.1).
Security
Q. Can I set up MAC address filters or association filters on the base station?
A. No, filtering is not available on the base station.
Q. Do the base station and Base Station Client Utility (BSCU) support 40-bit Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) encryption?
A. No, they only support 128-bit WEP encryption or no encryption.
Q. In the Base Station Client Utility (BSCU), what happens if the Hexadecimal Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) key is entered with fewer than 26 characters?
A. The WEP key has a default null character (00 hexadecimal) that it appends to the key to maintain 26 characters for 128-bit WEP keys.
Q. What is the WEP authentication type for the base station and a client with Base Station Client Utility (BSCU)?
A. It is hard-coded to Open Authentication. It can not be changed.
Q. I forgot the WEP key that has been set up on some clients and base stations. Can I use the same WEP key for a new client without overriding the WEP keys that work?
A. Yes, you can duplicate the WEP key without decrypting it by using the Base Station Client Utility (BSCU) on the WEP-enabled client. Complete these steps to duplicate the WEP key:
- From the BSCU menu of a client that has the desired WEP key, choose Options > Install Additional Computer > Save to Floppy Drive.
- Save the configuration file on a floppy disk.
- From the BSCU menu of the new client, choose Clients > Edit Client Properties > Load from Floppy Drive.
- Select the configuration file from the floppy disk.
Dialup
Q. Does the base station modem support the V.90 standard?
A. Yes.
Q. Why does my base station modem not ring when I dial?
A. The base station does not have a modem speaker. You can check the dial status and dial results from the client utility when you access the Base Station Connection Status (BSCS) utility or the Log and Alarm History menu on the base station. For more information, refer to Base Station Connection Status Utility.
Q. Why will the base station (modem) not connect to America Online?
A. America Online dialup connections do not use industry-standard PPP negotiation methods. The base station uses PPP only and can only connect to dialup Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that use PPP.
Base Station Product Numbers
Q. What are the product numbers for Cisco Aironet Base Stations?
A. The product numbers for Cisco Aironet Base Stations are:
AIR-BSE342—340 Series 11 Mbps 802.11b DSSS base station with 128-bit WEP, 1-captured antenna, and no modem.
AIR-BSM342—340 Series 11 Mbps 802.11b DSSS base station with 128-bit WEP, 1-captured antenna, and a modem.
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