cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
cancel
1136
Views
0
Helpful
2
Replies

"Remote" CAPWAPs and WLC topology question"

russellra
Level 1
Level 1

Question about an optional solution for H-REAP (FlexConnect) CAPWAPs.  I have many H-REAPs in small corporate offices with local switching and they work fine. However, I believe in some cases there may be a better solution for me and the TAC can't seem to understand my query for help (or perhaps I'm a miserable communicator!!). For simplicity sake, assume I have a CAPWAP located within my campus but in a different switching domain that my WLC.  In other words, it is located across a routing domain and thus VLANs and their tags are confined to their own domains.  Rather than using FlexConnect I placed my "remote" AP in a Vlan local to the remote domain and assigned it a static address.  I statically configured the AP to register with the WLC.  All is fine so far.  The AP registered and showed up by default on the WLC management interface. I want to move the AP to its own dynamic interface and WLAN and enable the WLC to support DHCP to clients to obtain IP addys following WPA2 RADIUS-based authentication. Here's the question/problem:  dynamic interfaces *require* Vlan assignments with IP addy/mask/GW.  This seems to be an illogical and useless step.  Moreover, the TAC indicated that the VLAN should be added to WLC port trunk!! That seems even more illogical.  I can understand a "vlan" in the CAPWAP tunnel (WLC<=>AP(remote)) "understood" by the WLC and CAPWAP but on the WLC trunk where this Vlan tag has no meaning in the WLCs switching domain!?  So is there really a topology and configuration that supports "remote" CAPWAPs other than FlexConnect?  And if there is, does the WLAN or dynamic interface pointing to the DHCP server provide the CAPWAP with the mechanism for client IP leases?

Working/Supported Topology/Operation?

  5508WLC(trunk)<==>(trunk)L2switch<==>Router<==>L2switch(trunk)L2switch<==>CAPWAP(3502)[non-FlexConnect]

2 Replies 2

Stephen Rodriguez
Cisco Employee
Cisco Employee

If you want to keep the traffic local the AP/site, then you have to use FlexConnect.  That is the only way to get the AP tor bridge the traffic down to the wire.

dynamic interfaces *require* Vlan assignments with IP addy/mask/GW.  This seems to be an illogical and useless step.

Now, the reason that a dynamic interface needs an IP address, is so that the WLC knows if the client has done a Layer 2 or Layer 3 roam, as they are treated differently.

If you just used a VLAN identifier, there would be know way for the WLC to know if it could move the MSCB entry, or if it needed to anchor the client due to the IP subent being different on the other WLC.

HTH,
Steve

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please remember to rate useful posts, and mark questions as answered

HTH,
Steve

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please remember to rate useful posts, and mark questions as answered

In some spoke on my campus I have fastEthernet and GE via layer 3. Each domain has its own Vlans.  On the GE campus connections I'm will to traffic switched by the WLC.  Thus H-REAP local switching is not necessary.  The question remains, can I register the CAPWAP *located across a routed interfac in a different switching dmain* to the WLC in local mode, assign an interface (with quetionably IP addy and VLAN), WLAN, AP group, and then support wireless clients? I'm increasingly believing this is not possible other than H-REAP.  H-REAP is OK; I just want to know if there are support/topology options that I can deploy. Thanks.

Getting Started

Find answers to your questions by entering keywords or phrases in the Search bar above. New here? Use these resources to familiarize yourself with the community: