WLC 2106 and Linksys Bridge WET610N works with 7.0.116.0 release?

[riccardo.coppola]

Hi all,

i'm having troubles with WLC 2106 controller and several wireless bridges, so i'd like to know if i can fix it in some way.

My environment is as follows:

1 WLC 2106 with 2 Aironet 1240G

I have a production appliance that needs an ethernet port to work, so i bought a Linksys Bridge WET610N to make it works via wireless.

The Linksys bridge connects to the 1240G as a client and works well, but the appliance connected to the ethernet port of the bridge is unreachable.

Searching for the problem, i found that the wlc act as a proxy arp for the wireless clients and being the ethernet appliance a "passive" client, the controller isn't aware of it.

My WLC is running the 7.0.98.0 firmware. In the release notes for the 7.0.116.0, in the "Non-Cisco WGB Support" seems to state that now also non cisco bridges can work using the passive client feature. I've already enabled it on my controller but this didn't solve my problem.

Can anyone tell me if the upgrade to the 7.0.116.0 can fix it?

Thanks in advance

Riccardo Coppola

[Nicolas Darchis]

the WLC only accepts Cisco workgroup bridges.

The Cisco AP have a mode called "universal workgroup bridge" where they can work with any non-cisco infra AP. Because the WGB becomes "invisible" and spoofs the client mac address so the infra AP doesn't notice that there is a WGB.

If you linksys AP is "working fine" as you say, it means it's not "invisible" and so it's not "universal WGB" and will not contact the WLC to add the clients.

[riccardo.coppola]

Thank you for your reply.

So i have to look for an appliance that can do mac cloning in other words? I have to connect several wired devices through bridges to the wireless network so i need something cheap and not a cisco enterprise WGB.

Thank you

[Nicolas Darchis]

I'm not sure what (cheap) devices can do the wgb feature that is inter-brand compatible.

The thing is that the WLC enforces the rule "1 wireless client = 1 client". Meaning you can't bridge multiple clients behind a wireless clients, that just screws up roaming mechanisms etc ...

Cisco WGBs have the IAPP protocol to tell the WLC "listen, I'm a WGB wireless client and those are the wired clients connected to me, allow them on the network".

What does "universal WGB" feature does is that the WGB forwards the traffic of the client (only 1 client supported in this case !) to the infrastructure AP but the WGB never sends anything with its own mac address. It uses the client mac address as source.

This means that the WLC has no way of knowing that there is more than 1 device. It just thinks that your wired client is a wireless client.

So it's more than mac cloning since the WgB has to be the one authenticating to the infrastructure (Wpa/wpa2 whatsoever) by spoofing the client mac. The WGB is still in charge of roaming decisions and so on and so on...

I hope it clarifies the situation ?

[riccardo.coppola]

Thanks,

this unfortunately clarifies the situation.

I was hoping I could add a static client on the wlc telling it that the client was at the MAC of AP x but this isn't possible.

So even trying to forge ad-hoc arp reply seems to be useless because, as I understand, the wlc doesn't know under which AP the client is and cannot forward the request.