ENCOR Chapter 18
ENCOR Chapter 18
Infrastructure
Instructor Materials
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Wireless LAN Topologies
• This chapter looks beyond a single AP to discuss the topologies that can be built with
many APs.
• The chapter also discusses the types of antennas you can connect to an AP to provide
wireless coverage for various areas and purposes.
• Finally, this chapter discusses how lightweight APs discover and join with wireless LAN
controllers in an enterprise network.
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Wireless LAN Topologies
AP Modes
Cisco APs can operate in one of two modes:
• Autonomous - are self-sufficient and standalone
• Lightweight - can support several different network topologies, depending
on where the companion wireless LAN controllers (WLCs) are located
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Wireless LAN Topologies
Autonomous Topology
Autonomous APs are self-contained, offering one
or more standalone basic service sets (BSSs).
They are an extension of a switched network,
connecting wireless SSIDs to wired VLANs at the
access layer.
Each AP must be configured and maintained individually unless you leverage a management
platform such as Cisco Prime Infrastructure.
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Wireless LAN Topologies
Autonomous Topology (Cont.)
Because the data and management VLANs may
need to reach every autonomous AP, the network
configuration and efficiency can become
cumbersome as the network scales.
For example, you will likely want to offer the same
SSID on many APs so that wireless clients can
associate with that SSID in most any location or
while roaming between any two APs.
You may want to extend the VLAN and IP subnet to
each and every AP so that clients do not have to
request a new IP address for each new association. In Figure 18-2, two wireless users are associated
to the same autonomous AP. One can reach the
A topology using autonomous APs does have one other through the AP, without having to pass up
nice feature: a short and simple path for data to into the wired network. This is not always the
travel between the wireless and wired networks. case with lightweight AP topologies.
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Wireless LAN Topologies
Lightweight AP Topologies
In lightweight mode, an AP loses its self-sufficiency to
provide a working BSS for wireless users. It has to join
a WLC to become fully functional.
Fig. 18-3, a WLC is placed in a central location, so it can maximize the number of APs joined to it. This is
known as a centralized or unified wireless LAN topology. Each AP has its own CAPWAP tunnel to the WLC.
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Wireless LAN Topologies
Lightweight AP Topologies - Centralized
A Cisco unified WLC meant for a large enterprise
can support up to 6000 APs.
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Wireless LAN Topologies
Lightweight AP Topologies – Embedded Wireless Topology
A WLC can be located further down in the network
hierarchy.
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Pairing Lightweight APs and
WLCs
• A Cisco lightweight wireless AP needs to be paired with a WLC to function.
• Each AP must discover and bind itself with a controller before wireless clients can be
supported.
• Cisco lightweight APs are designed to be “touch free,” but you have to configure the
switch port, where the AP connects, with the correct access VLAN, access mode, and
inline power settings, then the AP can power up and use a variety of methods to find a
viable WLC to join.
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Pairing Lightweight APs and WLCs
AP States
A lightweight AP goes through a variety of states defined as part of the Control and Provisioning of Wireless
Access Points (CAPWAP) specification. The AP enters the states in a specific order; the sequence of states is
called a state machine:
1. AP boots - Once an AP receives power, it boots on a small IOS image so that it can work through the
remaining states and communicate over its network connection. The AP must also receive an IP address
from either a DHCP server or a static configuration so that it can communicate over the network.
2. WLC discovery - The AP goes through a series of steps to find one or more controllers that it might join.
3. CAPWAP tunnel - The AP attempts to build a CAPWAP tunnel with one or more controllers. The tunnel will
provide a secure Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) channel for subsequent AP-WLC control
messages. The AP and WLC authenticate each other through an exchange of digital certificates.
4. WLC join - The AP selects a WLC from a list of candidates and then sends a CAPWAP Join Request
message to it. The WLC replies with a CAPWAP Join Response message.
5. Download image - The WLC informs the AP of its software release. If the AP’s own software is a different
release, the AP downloads a matching image from the controller, reboots to apply the new image, and then
returns to step 1.
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Pairing Lightweight APs and WLCs
AP States (Cont.)
6. Download config - The AP pulls configuration
parameters down from the WLC and can update
existing values with those sent from the controller.
Settings include RF, service set identifier (SSID),
security, and quality of service (QoS) parameters.
If there is a chance an AP could rehome with another WLC, you should make sure that both WLCs are running
the same code release. Otherwise, the AP move should happen at a planned time, like during a maintenance
window. You can predownload a new release to the controller’s APs prior to rebooting the WLC.
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Pairing Lightweight APs and WLCs
Discovering a WLC
To discover a WLC, an AP sends a unicast CAPWAP Discovery Request to a controller’s IP over UDP port 5246
or a broadcast to the local subnet. If the controller exists, it returns a CAPWAP Discovery Response to the AP.
An AP must discover any WLCs that it can join without any preconfiguration. Several methods of discovery are
used and the sequence of discovery is as follows:
1. The AP broadcasts a CAPWAP Discovery Request on its local wired subnet. Any WLCs on the subnet
answer with a CAPWAP Discovery Response.
2. An AP can be “primed” with up to 3 controllers: a primary, a secondary, and a tertiary. These are stored in
NVRAM so that the AP can remember them after a reboot. Otherwise, if an AP has previously joined a WLC,
it may have stored up to 8 out of a list of 32 WLC addresses that it received from the last controller it joined.
The AP attempts to contact as many controllers as possible to build a list of candidates.
3. The DHCP server that supplies an IP can also send DHCP option 43 to suggest WLC addresses.
5. If none of the steps has been successful, the AP resets itself and restarts the discovery process again.
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Pairing Lightweight APs and WLCs
Discovering a WLC (Cont.)
If the AP and controllers lie on different subnets, you can configure the local router to relay any
broadcast requests on UDP port 5246 to specific controller addresses.
Use the following configuration commands:
router(config)# ip forward-protocol udp 5246
router(config)# interface vlan number
router(config-int)# ip helper-address WLC1-MGMT-ADDR
router(config-int)# ip helper-address WLC2-MGMT-ADDR
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Pairing Lightweight APs and WLCs
Selecting a WLC
Joining a WLC involves sending it a CAPWAP Join Request and waiting for it to return a CAPWAP Join
Response. From that point on, the AP and WLC build a DTLS tunnel to secure their CAPWAP control messages.
1. If the AP has previously joined a controller and has been configured or “primed” with a primary, secondary,
and tertiary controller, it tries to join those controllers in succession.
2. If the AP does not know of any candidate controller, it tries to discover one. If a controller has been
configured as a master controller, it responds to the AP’s request.
3. The AP attempts to join the least-loaded WLC, to load balance APs across a set of controllers. During the
discovery phase, each controller reports its load—the ratio of the number of currently joined APs to the total
AP capacity.
The least-loaded WLC is the one with the lowest ratio. If the controller already has the maximum number of APs
joined to it, it rejects any additional APs.
To provide flexibility in supporting APs on an oversubscribed controller, you can configure the APs with a priority
value. Once a controller is full of APs, it rejects an AP with the lowest priority to make room for a new one that
has a higher priority.
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Pairing Lightweight APs and WLCs
Maintaining WLC Availability
If a controller full of 1000 APs fails, all 1000 APs must detect the failure, discover other controllers, and then
select the least-loaded one to join. During that time, wireless clients can be left stranded with no connectivity.
The most deterministic approach is to use the primary, secondary, and tertiary controller fields in every AP.
Once an AP joins a controller, it sends keepalive messages to the controller over the wired network. By default,
keepalives are sent every 30 seconds. If a keepalive is not answered, an AP escalates by sending four more
keepalives at 3-second intervals. If it does not answer, the AP presumes that the controller has failed. The AP
then moves quickly to find a successor to join.
Using default values, an AP can detect controller failure in 35 seconds. Using minimum values, failure can be
detected in only 6 seconds.
WLCs also support high availability (HA) with stateful switchover (SSO) redundancy. One controller takes on the
active role and the other a hot standby mode. The APs only need to know the active primary controller.
The active unit keeps CAPWAP tunnels, AP states, client states, configurations, and image files all in sync with
the hot standby unit. The active controller also synchronizes the state of each associated client that is in the RUN
state with the hot standby controller. If the active controller fails, the standby will already have the current state
information for each AP and client, making the failover process transparent to the end users.
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Pairing Lightweight APs and WLCs
Cisco AP Modes
From the WLC, you can configure a lightweight AP to operate in one of the following modes:
• Local - The default lightweight mode that offers one or more functioning BSSs on a specific channel. During
times when it is not transmitting, the AP scans the other channels to measure the level of noise, measure
interference, discover rogue devices, and match against intrusion detection system (IDS) events.
• Monitor - The AP does not transmit at all, but its receiver is enabled to act as a dedicated sensor. The AP
checks for IDS events, detects rogue access points, and determines the position of stations through location-
based services.
• FlexConnect - An AP at a remote site can locally switch traffic between an SSID and a VLAN if its CAPWAP
tunnel to the WLC is down and if it is configured to do so.
• Sniffer - An AP dedicates its radios to receiving 802.11 traffic from other sources, much like a sniffer or
packet capture device. The captured traffic is then forwarded to a PC running network analyzer software such
as LiveAction Omnipeek or Wireshark, where it can be analyzed further.
• Rogue detector - An AP dedicates itself to detecting rogue devices by correlating MAC addresses heard on
the wired network with those heard over the air. Rogue devices are those that appear on both networks.
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Pairing Lightweight APs and WLCs
Cisco AP Modes (Cont.)
• Bridge - An AP becomes a dedicated bridge (point-to-point or point-to-multipoint) between two networks. Two
APs in bridge mode can be used to link two locations separated by a distance. Multiple APs in bridge mode
can form an indoor or outdoor mesh network.
• Flex+Bridge - FlexConnect operation is enabled on a mesh AP.
• SE-Connect - The AP dedicates its radios to spectrum analysis on all wireless channels. You can remotely
connect a PC running software such as MetaGeek Chanalyzer or Cisco Spectrum Expert to the AP to collect
and analyze the spectrum analysis data to discover sources of interference.
A lightweight AP is normally in local mode when it is providing BSSs and allowing client devices to associate to
wireless LANs. When an AP is configured to operate in one of the other modes, local mode (and the BSSs) is
disabled.
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Leveraging Antennas for
Wireless Coverage
• One type of antenna cannot fit every application.
• Antennas come in many sizes and shapes, each with its own gain value and intended
purpose.
• The following section describes antenna characteristics in more detail.
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Leveraging Antennas for Wireless Coverage
Radiation Patterns
• Antenna gain is normally a comparison of one antenna
against an isotropic antenna and is measured in dBi
(decibel-isotropic).
• An isotropic antenna does not actually exist because it is
ideal, perfect, and impossible to construct.
• An isotropic antenna is shaped like a tiny round point.
• When an alternating current is applied, an RF signal is
produced, and the electromagnetic waves are radiated
equally in all directions.
• The energy produced by the antenna takes the form of an
ever-expanding sphere.
• A plot that shows the relative signal strength around an
antenna is known as the radiation pattern.
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Leveraging Antennas for Wireless Coverage
Radiation Patterns (Cont.)
• The XY plane, which lies flat along the horizon, is known
as the H plane, or the horizontal (azimuth) plane.
• The XZ plane, which lies vertically along the elevation of
the sphere, is known as the E plane, or elevation plane.
• The outline of each plot can be recorded on a polar plot.
• The outermost circle usually represents the strongest
signal strength, and the inner circles represent weaker
signal strength.
• The antenna is placed at the center of the polar plots.
• As you decide to place APs in their actual locations, you
might have to look at various antenna patterns and try to
figure out whether the antenna is a good match for the
environment you are trying to cover with an RF signal.
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Leveraging Antennas for Wireless Coverage
Gain
• Antenna amplify or add gain to the signal by shaping the RF energy as it is propagated into free
space. The gain of an antenna is a measure of how effectively it can focus RF energy in a certain
direction.
• Think of a zero gain antenna producing a perfect sphere. If the sphere is made of rubber, you could
press on it in various locations and change its shape. As the sphere is deformed, it expands in other
directions. Figure 18-11 shows some simple examples, along with some examples of gain values.
• The gain is lower for omnidirectional antennas, which are made to cover a widespread area, and
higher for directional antennas, which are built to cover more focused areas.
• The gain is typically not indicated on either E or H plane radiation pattern plots. The only way to find
an antenna’s gain is to look at the manufacturer’s specifications.
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Leveraging Antennas for Wireless Coverage
Beamwidth
Many manufacturers list the beamwidth of an antenna
as a measure of the antenna’s focus.
The electrical portion of the wave will always leave the antenna in a certain orientation. If the wire is
pointing vertically it will produce a wave that oscillates up and down in a vertical direction.
Antennas that produce vertical oscillation are vertically polarized; those that produce horizontal
oscillation are horizontally polarized.
Antenna polarization at the transmitter must be matched to the polarization at the receiver. If the
polarization is mismatched, the received signal can be severely degraded.
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Leveraging Antennas for Wireless Coverage
Omnidirectional Antennas
An omnidirectional antenna tends to propagate a signal equally in
all directions away from the cylinder but not along the cylinder’s
length.
As its name implies, the dipole has two separate wires that
radiate an RF signal when an alternating current is applied
across them.
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Leveraging Antennas for Wireless Coverage
Directional Antennas
Directional antennas have a higher gain than omnidirectional
antennas because they focus the RF energy in one general
direction.
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Leveraging Antennas for Wireless Coverage
Parabolic Dish Antennas
In a line-of-sight wireless path, an RF signal must be
propagated a long distance using a narrow beam.
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Prepare for the Exam
Key Topics for Chapter 18
Description
Wireless Network Topology Using Autonomous APs
WLC Location in a Centralized Wireless Network Topology
WLC Location in an Embedded Wireless Network Topology
WLC Location in a Mobility Express Wireless Network Topology
AP controller discovery states
AP controller discovery steps
Cisco lightweight AP modes
Plotting the Radiation Pattern of an Isotropic Antenna
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Prepare for the Exam
Key Terms for Chapter 18
Description Description
Autonomous AP E plane
Beamwidth Embedded WLC deployment
CAPWAP Gain
Centralized WLC deployment H plane
Dipole Integrated antenna
Directional Antenna Lightweight AP
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Prepare for the Exam
Key Terms for Chapter 18 (Cont.)
Description Description
Local mode Polarization
Mobility Express WLC deployment Radiation pattern
Omnidirectional antenna Split-MAC architecture
Parabolic dish antenna Unified WLC deployment
Patch antenna Wireless LAN Controller (WLC)
Polar plot Yagi antenna
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