ZyXEL Communications NWA3160 User Manual

Chapter 1 Introducing the ZyXEL Device

ZyXEL NWA-3160 Series User’s Guide

In the figure below, A and B use X as an AP to access the wired network, while X and Y 
communicate in bridge mode.
When the ZyXEL Device is in AP + Bridge mode, security between APs (the Wireless 
Distribution System or WDS) is independent of the security between the wireless stations and 
the AP. If you do not enable WDS security, traffic between APs is not encrypted. When WDS 
security is enabled, both APs must use the same pre-shared key. See 

for more details.
Unless specified, the term “security settings” refers to the traffic between the wireless stations 
and the ZyXEL Device.

Figure 4   AP+Bridge Application 

A BSS (Basic Service Set) is the set of devices forming a single wireless network (usually an 
access point and one or more wireless clients). An SSID (Service Set IDentifier) is the name of 
a BSS. In MBSSID (Multiple BSS) mode, the ZyXEL Device provides multiple virtual APs, 
each forming its own BSS and using its own individual SSID profile.
You can configure up to sixteen SSID profiles, and have up to eight active at any one time.
You can assign different wireless and security settings to each SSID profile. This allows you to 
compartmentalize groups of users, set varying access privileges, and prioritize network traffic 
to and from certain BSSs.
To the wireless clients in the network, each SSID appears to be a different access point. As in 
any wireless network, clients can associate only with the SSIDs for which they have the 
correct security settings.