H3C Technologies H3C WX3000E Series Wireless Switches - Manual (Page 351)

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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—An AP bridges frames between wireless and wired networks.
• Access controller—An AC can control and manage APs associated with it in a WLAN. The AC
communicates with an authentication server for WLAN client authentication.
• Service set identifier—An SSID identifies a wireless network. 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 active/passive scanning surrounding wireless services, authentication,
and association, as shown in Figure 41 .
Figure 320 Establishing a client access
Scanning
Wireless clients use active scanning and passive scanning to obtain information about surrounding
wireless networks.