APPro 5003 WISP Access Point

APPro5003 WISP Access Point is a device operating in 802.11a/g mode (5 GHz / 2,4 GHz), equipped with three LAN ports. This AP uses the latest version of APPro 5000-family firmware.

Technical Specification

• 18 dBm power;
• High-sensivity receiver;
• 4 MB Flash memory, 32 MB SDRAM;
• Modes of Operation: AP, Infrastructure Client, P2P Bridge, WDS Bridge Client, Mikrotik Client;
• 3 x LAN RJ45 10/100 Mbps;
• WEP and WPA Encryption;
• Web interface for easy management;
• 2 dBi detachable Dipole Antenna;
• Reversed SMA Connector.

APPro5000 includes all tools needed for computer network configuration, administration, and diagnostics. Employing the Linux system ensures much better capabilities – e.g. traffic management, port filtering, firewall or NAT – than those offered by typical products available on the market.

Thanks to MadWifi drivers, users of APPro5000 have access to advanced, state of the art technologies, for example the can configure up to three virtual Access Points, use one of numerous operating modes or monitor network traffic with built-in sniffer tool. The software is designed both for companies offering WISP services (where it can be used as an efficient P2P bridge), and wireless network clients (in flexible and cost-effective client devices operating in 5 GHz bandwidth).

Most important features of APPro5000:

• Linux kernel version 2.4.32;
• Busybox tools version 1.0.0;
• MadWifi driver;
• Iptables firewall version 1.2.9 (available features: MASQUERADE, SNAT, DNAT, MAC, TTL, iplimit);
• traffic management with Iproute2 (HTB, WRR, PRIO, ESFQ);
• traceroute, ping, arping, tcpdump, and nslookup tools;
• Bash-compatible system shell (available via SSH/Telnet);
• availability of gcc compiler (for MIPS architecture).

Full support for Atheros chipset:

• Multiband Atheros Driver;
• support for 802.11a, 802.11a Turbo, and 802.11a Dynamic Turbo modes;
• wide range of available channels in 5,1 – 5,8 GHz frequency band;
• possibility of configuring up to three virtual APs (VAP);
• utilization of Atheros Fast Frames, Burst Mode, Adaptive Bandwitch Mode, and Extra Range technologies;
• possibility of changing the Country Code value;
• adjusting transmitter's power according to ETSI/FCC requirements;
• AP, Infrastructure Client, P2P Bridge, and WDS Bridge Client operating modes;
• Transparent Client mode for relaying MAC addresses;
• dedicated Mikrotik client;
• pooling;
• packet aggregation.

Functionality:

• full routing for WLAN/LAN in any configuration;
• NAT and DHCP features for WLAN or LAN networks;
• watchdog that restarts the device in case of lost connection;
• filtering of direct traffic between clients (Intra BSS Traffic);
• filtering of “network neighborhood” (NETBIOS Filtering), which prevents various attacks, such as RPC-based exploits;
• filtering of broadcast traffic (Broadcast Filtering);
• support for PPPoE protocol;
• PPPoE client on WLAN or LAN interface;
• table of authorized MACs extended to 64 entries;
• MAC address cloning.

Security:

• firewall/NAT;
• virus protection;
• filtering unauthorized IP and MAC addresses;
• filtering traffic on selected ports and IP addresses;
• port forwarding;
• static entries in ARP table.

Bandwidth management:

• QoS feature fully utilizing Linux system capabilities;
• priority-based traffic management;
• assigning bandwidth for specific services, such as e-mail, Web browsing, P2P, and others;
• availability of different queuing algorithms;
• bandwidth management for 64 IP or MAC addresses;
• traffic filtering of address without assigned bandwidth.

Flexibility:

• device management via Web interface, SSH, or Telnet client;
• user-defined rules for QoS, NAT, firewall and routing configuration;
• ability to save user configuration, system files, and user scripts in flash memory;
• ability to install additional software in /usr/local directory;

Selected capabilities of APPro5000

Performance that significantly exceeds standard firmware

Thanks to thorough code optimizations and utilization of Atheros chipset's full capabilities, APPro5000 software is several times more efficient than standard firmware offered by hardware manufacturers. In test conditions we've achieved performance level of 40 Mbit/s in half-duplex UDP traffic on a standard AR531x hardware with 180 MHz system clock. Bursting Bursting allows to send multiple frames in one operation (instead of separate data packets), which significantly reduces amount of extra signals accompanying data transmission which translates to increased throughput. Additional boost of performance can be achieved after fine-tuning some timings.

Fast Frames

This feature increases amount of data that can be transmitted in a single frame. Also this function reduces data transmission's overhead. Compression Data frames are compressed on the fly, using the Lempel Ziv algorithm. This feature operates transparently to the user, and it's supported by the chipset's hardware. This reduces the load on processor of a computer connected to the Access Point, since that CPU doesn't have to handle data compression and decompression.

Turbo Mode

In Turbo Mode two radio channels are combined, which doubles theoretical throughput (to 108 Mbit/s). There are two flavors of Turbo mode available: Static and Dynamic. In static mode the channels are always combined until the feature will be disabled. In more intelligent Dynamic mode the device decides whether it may combine the radio channels. For example, it will not combine channels if there's traffic on adjacent radio bands, or one of stations in the network doesn't support Turbo mode.

Adaptive Radio (AR) or Adaptive Bandwidth

This function controls Dynamic Turbo mode – it constantly monitors radio bands and decides whether WiFi channels can be combined.

eXtended Range (XR)

XR increases wireless network's range thanks to increased receiver sensitivity (up to -105 dBm). Also it adds some non-standard transmission rates: 3, 2, 1, 0.5, and 0.25 Mbit/s.

Station Pooling

This feature assigns to each client station a time interval, in which this station is allowed to transmit data. Station Pooling prevents packet collisions and protects network from taking over the bandwidth by clients with the strongest radio signal.

Bandwidth management

APPro5000 offers advanced bandwidth management features. Apart from QoS, which is based on priorities assigned to each packet type (this can improve quality of such services as Web browsing or e-mail), there's also the Traffic Manger that allows to specify separate bandwidth settings to each user. With Traffic Manager it's possible not only to set a maximum allowed transmission speed, but also the number of packets sent per second, as well as number of connections established in one second.

Disabling direct traffic between clients (Intra BSS Traffic)

The function that improves wireless network performance by blocking direct transfers between WiFi clients. Thanks to this feature it's possible to shorten ping times and avoid packet losses.

Filtering "network neighborhood": RPC etc., NETBIOS Filtering

Windows Operating Systems periodically send packets on ports 135, 137, 138, and 138. Such packets are used for communication and file exchange in local networks. However, such traffic may be unwanted in a wireless network. Additional benefit of NETBIOS filtering is an extra protection layer preventing RPC-based virus attacks.

Access to diagnostic tools via Telnet and SSH

Advanced users will appreciate the ability to diagnose and resolve network problems with such tools as ping, tcpdump, ifconfig or traceroute. These programs are available after logging on to device's system console via Telnet or SSH protocol.

iptables packet filter

This tool allows to introduce a quick remedy in networks overloaded with large number of packets (e.g. caused by virus-infected machine or P2P users). With the --iplimit-above option it's possible to limit traffic in peer-to-peer network, and with --ttl-lt you can block illegal network connection sharing.

Advanced client monitoring

This feature gives you a quick access to a complete list of connected clients, and to such information as signal strength, transmission speed or client's IP and MAC addresses.

Advanced discovery of wireless networks

Using this feature it's possible to obtain detailed information about available wireless networks. It provides SSID name, BSSID identifier, operating mode channel number, strength of signal and noise, as well as information about available transmission rates and encryption methods.

Hardware extension module

In outdoor applications, this module ensures comfortable installation and orientation of antennas. The APPro5000 module displays information about signal strength, establishing a connection with remote device, and reception of ICMP packets. Other features allow to read device's temperature and power supply's current voltage, as well as sending hardware reset signal in case of improper AP's operation.