H3C Technologies H3C WX3000E Series Wireless Switches - Manual (Page 239)

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Configuring access services
Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN) provide the following services:
• Connectivity to the Internet
• Secured WLAN access with different authentication and encryption methods
• Seamless roaming of WLAN clients in a mobility domain
Access service overview
Terminology
Wireless client
A handheld computer or laptop with a wireless Network Interface Card (NIC) or a terminal supporting
WiFi can be a WLAN client.
Access point (AP)
An AP bridges frames between wireless and wired networks.
Access controller (AC)
An AC can control and manage APs associated with it in a WLAN. The AC communicates with an
authentication server for WLAN client authentication.
SSID
The service set identifier. A client scans all networks at first, and then selects a specific SSID to connect
to a specific wireless network.
Client access
A client access process involves three steps: active/passive scanning surrounding wireless services,
authentication, and association, as shown in
Figure 211 .