Wireless/Redundant Edge Services xl Module Management and Configuration Guide WS.02.xx and greater

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Introduction
ProCurve Wireless Edge Services xl Module
ProCurve Wireless Edge Services
xl Module
The ProCurve Wireless Edge Services xl Module transforms a ProCurve
Switch 5300xl Series into a wireless services-enabled switch. Together with
one or more radio ports (RPs), this wireless services-enabled switch creates
a Wireless LAN System.
With its default RP license, each Wireless Edge Services xl Module can support
up to 12 RPs (for a total of 24 radios). If you purchase and install additive RP
licenses, the module can support up to 48 RPs (for a total of 96 radios). Each
RP radio can support up to 64 stations simultaneously, although more stations
always translates to less bandwidth for each.
A wireless network can include several Wireless Edge Services xl Modules.
These modules can function independently, or you can combine them in
several ways. You can join up to twelve modules in a group to provide
redundancy. You can also group modules in a Layer 3 mobility domain, which
enables wireless stations to roam from a module in one Ethernet subnetwork
to a module in a different subnetwork.
A ProCurve Wireless LAN System—which includes a Wireless Edge Services
xl Module and its adopted RPs—can provide these services:
■ Association—Mobile users must be able to locate and connect to the
wireless network.
■ Authentication—Typically, users and the wireless access provider
should authenticate each other so that each knows that it is connecting
to the correct peer.
■ Encryption—Wireless network traffic may be encrypted to protect it
from interception.
■ Bridging—Traffic crossing from the wireless network to the wired net-
work should be placed in the proper subnetwork, or virtual LAN (VLAN),
and appropriately controlled.
As the interface between the wireless and the wired network, the Wireless
Edge Services xl Module manages these services. After bridging traffic to the
wired network, the module can also provide Layer 3 capabilities, such as
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) services, Network Address
Translation (NAT), and filtering with a firewall.