In a small business network environment, there are many different types of users (i.e. guest users, corporate users) that can have access to your network. Some users require different encryption methods to connect to the internet and others are granted more, or less, access to internal sub-networks. The network administrator of this network can control wireless user access and security settings by setting up multiple custom configurations on a single physical interface.
Simply put, you would use this article to simulate multiple access points on a physical access point, saving you the trouble of configuring multiple access points for different user types. Up to four VAPs are supported on the WAP121 and up to eight VAPs are supported on the WAP321. To each client, every virtual access point they connect to will appear to be a physical access point.
Using a WAP121 and VAP/VLANs does not appear to secure what I would normally refer to as a Guest Network. For example a retail shop may offer their customers free wireless abut do not want any of the connected wireless customers to have any type of access to their network outside of Internet. If you simply create a second SSID this does not meet requirements.
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