vlans for access points with switches in transparent mode

[David Bell]

Hi experts.

I have AP's connecting to a centralised 5520 controller. The controller on the wired side access VLANs 900 and 110 for the relevant SSID's. Hence we have:

vlan 900 = SSID A

vlan 110 = SSID B

Our switches network is configured as VTP transparent, and only the VLANs they require are configured.

My question is would I need to configure VLANs 900 and 110 which are used by the wireless controller on the switches. I'm of the thinking that the AP creates the CAPWAP tunnel back to the wireless controller hence the VLANs for the SSID should not be required on the local switch?

Please see a rustic diagram attached.

With regards

Dave Bell

[Seb Rupik · Accepted solution]

Hi there,

Your thinking is correct, the two VLANs are only used at the WLC where it acts as a bridge between the decapsulated CAPWAP traffic and the LAN.

As you point out the Aps will send client traffic via the CAPWAP tunnel so only require a single VLAN to be tagged towards them.

Cheers,

Seb.

[David Bell]

Thanks a lot Seb, you have confirmed my thinking.