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18_1587202115_ch16.qxp 9/29/08 2:42 PM Page 301Chapter 16: Wireless Clients 301Figure 16-4 Connecting to a Networkto connect to it. Then the WZC sends out beacons that others on the network can see, al-lowing other devices to connect to the WZC sending the beacons.If the WZC finds no preferred network and no ad hoc network to connect to, it checks thesetting Automatically Connect to non-preferred networks. This is not enabled by de-fault. If it were enabled, the WZC would try each non-preferred network in the availablenetworks list.If this setting is left at its default value, the WZC assigns itself a random network nameand places the card in infrastructure mode. From this point on, it scans all the channelsevery 60 seconds, looking for new networks.

Using a Mac to Connect to a Wireless LAN

You can configure WLAN profiles on a Mac using AirPort or AirPort Extreme. This sec-tion describes AirPort Extreme, its software interface, and how to configure a profile on aMac to connect to a WLAN.AirPort, which really refers to the old version that supported only 802.11b networks, pro-vides a software interface used to configure the WLAN profile, connect to detected net-works, and perform advanced configurations and troubleshooting.Configuring a ProfileTo configure a profile in Mac OSX, follow these steps:Step 1. Click the Open Apple icon in the top-right corner of the screen.Step 2. Select System Preferences.