Fortress Technologies ecure Wireless Access Bridge User Manual

Fortress Bridge: Configuration

23

 Bridging

loops can occur on

a WLAN only when
multiple APs share the
same ESS (extended ser-
vice set).

STP is a link management protocol that prevents bridging 
loops on the network while providing path redundancy. You 
should enable it only in deployments in which multiple OSI 
layer 2 paths to the same device(s)—i.e., bridging loops—are 
possible.

STP requires multicasting capability. When 

 is 

, 

—which is configured, per radio, on the 

 screen—is automatically 

 for both of the 

Bridge’s internal radios and the fields that configure the setting 
(on the 

 screen) are grayed out. 

The only radio to which multicasting applies is one with a 

 setting of 

and a 

setting of 

. If 

you disable STP on the 

 screen, the 

 field 

(on the 

 screen) of any radio so configured will 

be enabled, giving you the option of turning multicasting off for 
that radio. (Refer to Section 3.3.2.6 for more detail on the 
multicast function of Bridge radios.)

If you enable STP on the Bridge, you should enable it across all 
devices on the Bridge-secured network.

By default, the Bridge’s WAN port is in the encrypted zone of 
the Bridge-secured network, in which all traffic on the port is 
encrypted. 

It can be configured to be in the network’s unencrypted zone 
and so to pass unencrypted traffic (cleartext).

The encrypted and unencrypted zones are mutually exclusive 
and the WAN port cannot be in both zones at once.