In the configuration above, the LANforge Fire Core can be one physical interface and act as the server. The LANforge FIRE Edge can be a sercond physical interface with multiple virtual interfaces configured on the WiFire appliance. Both interfaces can be on the same machine or multiple LANforge machines can be clusterd for increased traffic generation capacity or to resolve constraints imposed by the layout of the network.

The Virtual Stations can be assigned to communicate to a particular Access Point, use a particular ESSID and Nickname, and have a WEP (64 or 128bit) key assigned. There is a single WiFi radio per WiFire appliance but multiple appliances can be clustered together for more realistic radio interference patterns and increased traffic generation capability. The radio can be configured in 802.11a, b or g mode. The radio's country code, channel, frequency, sensitivity, rate, RTS and Tx-Power can also be configured.

The Virtual Stations may be configured with all of the virtual interfaces on the same subnet, or different subnets, depending on the testing requirements. When used with something like VoIP, it allows all of the VoIP calls to use the standard IP ports (with one call per virtual interface).

The WiFire appliance has no moving parts (other than the two removable external antenna on swivel mounts) and will fit into a small travel bag or briefcase for easy portability. It is also completely silent, so you can include it in your customer demos and presentations. No additional hardware or software is required, but it is suggested that you manage the system using the LANforge-GUI on a separate machine. The WiFire appliance can also be managed over a DB-9 serial console in text mode.