2-38 RF Throughput, Performance and Troubleshooting
MX2 Reference Guide Revision A MX2A137REFGD
RF Throughput, Performance and Troubleshooting
Because of the complicated nature of wireless LAN technology,
problems occasionally arise. This section provides general information
about performance and addresses some problems that might arise during
setup or use of a wireless network with RF units. This should be your
first resource in case of trouble.
Power Management at the Proxim RangeLAN2 Access
Point
Proper setup of the access point (AP) is essential to RF power
management. Even with the MX2 set up for maximum power savings,
the batteries can become drained quickly if the AP is not configured
properly.
MU Access Control
For environments in which multiple RF networks overlap, you can use
an authorization table to prevent RangeLAN2 APs from accessing RF
cards on other networks. This list contains media access control (MAC)
addresses of mobile units that are allowed to associate with the AP.
See the AP user’s guide for more information about MAC addresses and
for information about the authorization table.
Message Filtering
Network packets include a protocol type (IPX, IP, ARP broadcast,
NetBIOS, etc.) in the header field. By filtering out unwanted protocol
messages, you can prevent the AP from sending these packets to the
MX2. This will reduce the amount of times the radio cards have to wake
up out of doze mode to service incoming packets.
It can be especially important to filter out broadcast messages. These
types of packets, which are generically addressed to all computers on a
system, may force the MX2 to operate continuously in full receive mode,
even when the data is not relevant to the MX2. If the MX2 does not turn
off automatically after the preset timeout, it is an indication that the radio
card is receiving broadcast messages and is unable to go to sleep.
The Proxim AP user interface for filtering packets allows you to select
the type of packets that will be filtered by selecting from a list of
