WAP321 WDS

[vgulinolite]

I purchased 2 WAP 321's and plan to use WDS for roaming/signal purposes. Correct me if I am wrong but this would be the ideal setup:

WAP-01-Main wap connected to the wired LAN

1. Set a static channel of either 1, 6 or 11

2. Setup the SSID's/VLANs

3. Enable WDS entering the MAC address of the partner WAP (WAP-02)

WAP-02-Partner WAP

1. Set a static channel of either 1, 6 or 11

2. Setup the same SSID's/VLANs as the main WAP

3. Enable WDS entering the MAC address of the main WAP (WAP-01)

Are there any other suggestions? How can I determine that I will connect to the WAP closest to the client?

Thanks

[vgulinolite]

I should add that WAP-02 (Partner) will not have a Ethernet connection to the LAN

[Eric Moyers]

My name Eric Moyers. I am an Engineer in the Small Business Support Center.

If both access points have the same SSID and security, then it will be hard to tell which one you are connecting to without checking the MAC address. You could ensure that the Access Points are far enough apart that thee is only about a 5% overlap. That way the farther you get from one the more likely it is to drop the connection so that it can pick up the now closest one.

The WDS bridge is independent, of any wireless connection. They do not pass settings back and forth. I have before, set one SSID and encryption on one, then for the second made a slight altered SSID. For instance, SSID1: RIversideA and SSID2: RiversideB. Also still following the suggestions above for overlapping. 

If this does not improve your issue, please call our support center and open a case so that one of our engineers can work directly with you.
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/web/tsd-cisco-small-business-support-center-contacts.html

Eric Moyers
.:|:.:|:. CISCO | Cisco Presales Technical Support | Wireless Subject Matter Expert

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[vgulinolite]

Thank you Eric, I will try the method of different SSID's. I guess I was trying to achieve roaming without the use of a controller. This is in a 1800 square foot house and right now the access points are about 25 feet from each other. 1 is an an office and the other is in the living room. My though of WDS was a repeater like system, but the more and more I read WDS is used to eliminate wires, make sense why Single point wouldn't work if the master WAP were to go down.

[Eric Moyers]

Thank you for responding back.

With WDS if the Main AP goes down then you lose the wireless bridge.  

With Single Point Setup (SPS) with two clustered AP's id one goes down the other will still work. But the con with this, is that both have to be wired into the network.  

Roaming is possible, just not true seamless roaming like in conjunction with using a wireless controller. But let me also say that roaming where data traffic is concerned is easy, voice is a little harder.

If primarily using just PC's and Cell phones I would Follow the 1st suggestion.

I would also like to mention make sure both SSID'd are remembered networks that way you don't have to sign each time you move from one to another.

At only 25 ft apart, there is probably significant signal overlap. There is probably room to turn the transmit power down a notch or two. so that there is not a lot of overlap.

This is just a quick run down of how you can do it. If you call in and open a case, our engineers can help you get this going. 

Eric Moyers
.:|:.:|:. CISCO | Cisco Presales Technical Support | Wireless Subject Matter Expert

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[vgulinolite]

Thank you Eric, 

I am going to lower the transmit power and test it out...enjoy the weekend.

Vinny

[vgulinolite]

No luck, I have a question, I have a pair of 4410N's can I use those as WDS repeaters off of the 321?

[Eric Moyers]

Sorry for the late response.

No for WDS, the WAP321 will only repeat repeat with WDS to another WAP321. I believe, it is possible to use workgroup bridge to do that though.

Eric Moyers
.:|:.:|:. CISCO | Cisco Presales Technical Support | Wireless Subject Matter Expert

Please rate helpful Posts and Let others know when your Question has been answered.