Wireless network terms and concepts; SSID (Service Set Identifier) and channels; SSID- Page 27

Configuring your printer for a wireless network (For HL-4070CDW)

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Wireless network terms and concepts

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When you configure the wireless network printer, you must ensure that your wireless network printer is 
configured to match the settings of the existing wireless network. This section provides some of the main 
terms and concepts of these settings, which may be helpful when you configure the wireless network printer.

SSID (Service Set Identifier) and channels

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You need to configure the SSID and a channel to specify the wireless network you want to connect to.

SSID

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Each wireless network has its own unique network name and it is technically referred to as SSID or ESSID 
(Extended Service Set Identifier). The SSID is a 32-byte or less value and is assigned to the access point. 
The wireless network devices you want to associate to the wireless network should match the access point. 
The access point and wireless network devices regularly send wireless packets (referred to as a beacon) 
which has the SSID information. When your wireless network device receives a beacon, you can identify the 
wireless network that is close enough for the radio waves to reach your device.

Channels

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Wireless networks use channels. Each wireless channel is on a different frequency. There are up to 14 
different channels that can be used when using a wireless network. However, in many countries the number 
of channels available are restricted. For further information, see 

Ethernet wireless network

on page 165.

Authentication and encryption

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Most wireless networks use some kind of security settings. These security settings define the authentication 
(how the device identifies itself to the network) and encryption (how the data is encrypted as it is sent on the 
network). If you do not correctly specify these options when you are configuring your Brother wireless device, 
it will not be able to connect to the wireless network. Therefore care must be taken when configuring these 
options. Please refer to the information below to see which authentication and encryption methods your 
Brother wireless device supports.

Authentication methods

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The Brother printer supports the following methods:

Open system

Wireless devices are allowed access the network without any authentication.

Shared key

A secret pre-determined key is shared by all devices that will access the wireless network.

The Brother printer uses the WEP keys as the pre-determined key.