Wireless Distribution System
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A Wireless Distribution System is a system that enables the interconnection of access points wirelessly. As described in IEEE 802.11, it allows a wireless network to be expanded using multiple access points without the need for a wired backbone to link them, as is traditionally required. [link]
An access point can be either a main, relay or remote base station. A main base station is typically connected to the wired Ethernet. A relay base station relays data between remote base stations, wireless clients or other relay stations to either a main or another relay main station. A remote base station accepts connections from wireless clients and passes them to relay or main stations. Connections between "clients" are done through use of MAC address, as opposed to specifying IP assignments.
All base stations in a Wireless Distribution System must be configured to use the same radio channel, and share WEP keys if they are used. They can be configured to different service set identifiers.
WDS may also be referred to as repeater mode because it appears to bridge and accept wireless clients at the same time (unlike traditional bridging). It should be made aware, however, that throughput in this method is cut in half for each "jump", as all traffic uses the same channel. (The same halving of throughput happens when two wireless users connected to the same access point transfer data between themselves.)
WDS may be incompatible between different products (even occasionally from the same vendor) as it is not certified by the Wi-Fi Alliance.
Note: a Wireless Distribution System is distinct from the WDS implementation by Cisco, which stands for [Wireless Domain Services].
The WRT54GL is able to make use of the Wireless Distribution System via a 3rd party firmware like sveasoft.
See also
- Ad hoc wireless network
- Wireless mesh network
External links
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