ZyXEL Communications NBG410W3G Series User Manual

Chapter 8 Wi-Fi

NBG410W3G Series User’s Guide

Every wireless network must follow these basic guidelines.

• Every wireless client in the same wireless network must use the same SSID.

The SSID is the name of the wireless network. It stands for Service Set IDentity.

• If two wireless networks overlap, they should use different channels.

Like radio stations or television channels, each wireless network uses a specific channel, 
or frequency, to send and receive information.

• Every wireless client in the same wireless network must use security compatible with the 

AP.

Security stops unauthorized devices from using the wireless network. It can also protect 
the information that is sent in the wireless network.

"

See the WLAN appendix for more detailed information on WLANs.

The following sections introduce different types of wireless security you can set up in the 
wireless network.

Normally, the AP acts like a beacon and regularly broadcasts the SSID in the area. You can 
hide the SSID instead, in which case the AP does not broadcast the SSID. In addition, you 
should change the default SSID to something that is difficult to guess.

This type of security is fairly weak, however, because there are ways for unauthorized devices 
to get the SSID. In addition, unauthorized devices can still see the information that is sent in 
the wireless network.

Every wireless client has a unique identification number, called a MAC address.

1

 A MAC 

address is usually written using twelve hexadecimal characters

2

; for example, 00A0C5000002 

or 00:A0:C5:00:00:02. To get the MAC address for each wireless client, see the appropriate 
User’s Guide or other documentation.

1.

Some wireless devices, such as scanners, can detect wireless networks but cannot use wireless 

networks. These kinds of wireless devices might not have MAC addresses.

2.

Hexadecimal characters are 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, and F.