SWAN technology

[naive.naive]

Hi Experts,

I've been reading about the topic for the past weeks, and still has a lot of doubts.

Hope to find some help here.

In my environment i'll be having about 120APs, and hence i need 2 WDS. My question is :

1) Since one WDS only supports 60 APs, if I have 2 WDS, with one as master and one as slave, is that true that all my APs will be able to be associated to the WDS domain??

2) I'll be using AP as a WDS, and does this WDS needs to be able to reach by the AP wirelessly ??

3) For the client authentication, is it true that it only supports WPA2??

Thanks.

[scottmac]

Nope. All of your assumptions are off-the-mark.

1) If I recall correctly, you can only have one active WDS AP in the broadcast domain. The Standby will not handle any traffic unless it decides that the Master has "gone away."

If you need a greater number to APs to be serviced, then the broadcast domain must be segmented, with a WDS serving AP in each broadcast domain (i.e., break up the wireless to different segments separated with a router, or VLAN ... one may be more appropriate than the other, depending on the other design elements of your LAN).

In addition to that, 60 concurrent WDS connections, is a hard limit. In additon to that, IMHO, that is "marketing optimism" and personally, I wouldn't trust a single AP to have to handle more than ~40 APs with average traffic and roaming activity.

Also keep in mind that 60 is given as the limit for a non-active (i.e., radios off) dedicated unit. If you need the AP to also service wireless traffic, then the number is halved.

2) As mentioned above, if you plan to service a high number of APs as the WDS service, then the radios should be off, implying that the only connection necessary is the Fast Ethernet.

3) WDS only comes into play with LEAP and EAP-FAST. WPA or WPA2 will not use (to the best of my recollection) WDS credential caching ... meaning that you would get no benefit to WDS using WPA1/2).

Good Luck

Scott

[jakew]

A couple of additions/clarifications...

- The 30/60 AP support numbers are now enforced in software.

- You also have the option of adding the WLSM service module if you want to go above 60 APs. The WLSM hosts the WDS and that'll support up to 300 APs per blade.

- All 802.1x authentications--LEAP, EAP-FAST, EAP-TLS , etc. go through the WDS as the 802.1x authenticator. That means it does apply when you're using WPAv1/v2-Enterprise.

You can see this doc here for more information:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/partner/products/hw/wireless/ps430/products_technical_reference_book09186a00803b598c.html

Finally, depending on your time frame, WLAN growth plan, etc. I'd suggest you look at the LWAPP based "lightweight" solutions from the Airespace acquisition: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/partner/netsol/ns340/ns394/ns348/ns337/networking_solutions_package.html

[naive.naive]

hi guys,

1)Meaning if the 120AP need to be in the wireless domain, I need to have 2 WDS master??

2)I can't use WLSM, coz it's not a Cisco based network.

3)Meaning WPA/WPA2 is supported for the client authentication??

I have another question :

- does the WDS/WLSE and APs need to be on the same IP subnet??

- can the WDS only be contacted by the APs via wired LAN??

Note: I've read the documents and others docs also, which confuses me.

Thanks.

[jakew]

Q1: If the 120AP need to be in the wireless domain, I need to have 2 WDS master??

A1: Yes. And remember 2 things. (1) You'll need to segment the 120APs into 2 60 AP subnets because only 1 AP-based WDS can be active on a subnet at a time. (2) To support 60 APs, the WDS must be dedicated to running WDS. The easiest way to do this is to start the WDS and then turn the AP's radios off.

Q3:Meaning WPA/WPA2 is supported for the client authentication??

A3: Yes. There's been some confusion out there on this topic. Some of our competitors have been spreading lies on this front, but WPA/WPAv2 has always been supported for client authentication.

Q4: does the WDS/WLSE and APs need to be on the same IP subnet??

A4: No. If you're using AP-based WDS, the WDS and APs need to be on the same management subnet. The WLSE just needs to be IP reachable

Q5: can the WDS only be contacted by the APs via wired LAN??

A5: Yes.

[naive.naive]

jakew,

thanks for your answers. (at least now, I know what to do)

Q4 - How about ACS?? Only IP reachable or need to be on the same subnet as the WDS??

i've additional question :

- there will be wireless bridges (acting as repeaters), does this need to be in the WDS??

Thanks.

[sancy]

hi,

Q4: the ACS only need to be IP reachable from the WDS