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

1-60
Introduction
Radio Ports
The two radios on a single RP generally support the same WLANs, as shown
in Table 1-5. However, using advanced mode configuration, you can enable
different WLANs on an RP’s two built-in radios; in this case, a single RP with
two radios can support up to 32 WLANs. Using advanced mode configuration
raises several concerns that are discussed in Chapter 4: Wireless Local Area
Networks (WLANs).
Table 1-5. BSSIDs and WLANs on the ProCurve RPs
Beaconing
An RP broadcasts beacon frames to announce its presence to wireless sta-
tions. In an open system, a beacon includes the SSID for a WLAN to which the
RP offers a connection, as well as other information about the WLAN such as:
■ the authentication and encryption method
■ a timestamp for synchronization
■ supported data rates and parameters for signaling frequencies
■ the interval at which stations should expect beacons
■ the delivery traffic indication message (DTIM), which informs power-
saving stations whether they must “wake up” to receive buffered packets
■ priority queue settings if WMM is used
In a closed system, beacons include all this information except the SSID,
which stations must send in a probe request before they can associate to
the WLAN.
The destination address for a beacon is the broadcast address. The source
address is the BSSID on which the RP carries traffic for the WLAN.
If the RP supports multiple WLANs, it may send different beacons, each
containing a different SSID. However, the RP can transmit only as many
different beacon frames as it has BSSIDs. This means that even if a ProCurve
RP supports more than four WLANs, it can advertise only the first four.
ProCurve RP BSSID WLANs (Normal
Mode)
WLANs (Advanced
Mode)
210 4 16 16
220 8 (4 on each radio) 16 32
230 8 (4 on each radio) 16 32