Citrix Thin Client, Bdwidth Restrictions & Connecting WLAN AP to the WAN

[g.johnston]

I have two Cisco 1200 Access Points (A & B)with 802.11b radio’s attached to two separate Cisco 4006 switches in a Comms room. AP A is located in one room and AP B in another. The APs are in-line powered from the switches.

WLAN has been secured using Cisco EAP (LEAP) which is active for all clients. DHCP is operational for clients. Software/Firmware versions;- ACU V5.05.001, AP Firmware V12.01 T1, Client Driver V8.2.3 and Client Firmware V4.25.30

I have users who want to use Citrix thin client for their applications. How can we estimate on how many users can be served from one access point, without any degradation in performance due to bandwidth restrictions? Do we need to undertake a Survey to estimate?

Is it possible to connect the wireless access point directly into the WAN router, or do they have to go via a hub/switch? What kit would you recommend?

[derwin]

Yes you can plug the AP into a WAN router as long as the router has an etherenet interface. You will need to use a cross over cable.

As to the bandwidth planing it depends on what bandwidth the Citrix application needs.

It will be very close to any design guides you see for a 10baseT hub ( not a switch)

I dont think you will find a hard and fast rule as you are using a shared media but you have 11M half duplex shared amongst your users so you need to think about how many concurrent sessions you will have and how much bandwidth each session takes and then how much is left for other users

[jens.neelsen]

Hi,

for Citrix thin clients I expect that 20 to 50 users are no problem because the Citrix ICA protocol works fine with 64kbps links per user. But I suggest to make a survey in this case to proove it.

You can connect an access point directly to a router (with a cross cable). In this case no roaming to other switches is possible. This is because each router interface has a unique subnet and the client need no IP addresses when roaming from one subnet to the other. With DHCP this is possible but it will introduce session termination because of the new IP address of the client.

With kind regards

Jens Neelsen

[derwin]

In this case no roaming to other switches is possible. This is because each router interface has a unique subnet and the client need no IP addresses when roaming from one subnet to the other.

This is a good point but there is another option.

You could do this using the Proxy mobile IP feature . Or use a 3rd party mobile IP stac like the one from bird step. This would allow you to have layer 3 roaming using mobile IP