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

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Introduction
Radio Ports
The Wireless Edge Services xl Module also collects information about the
wireless network in order to improve its functioning. For example, if you
enable interference avoidance, the module has RPs change their channel when
they report excessive congestion.
Intrusion detection is one useful self-healing feature. The Wireless Edge
Services xl Module can also implement neighbor recovery and create a highly
availability, self-healing network. That is, when one RP fails, nearby RPs
automatically come to the aid of that RP’s stations by raising their transmit
power, among other actions. For more information on network self-healing
capabilities, see Chapter 13: Wireless Network Management.
802.1X Client
A secure network often enforces port authentication such as 802.1X: a device
must prove that it is legitimate before it can even connect to the network. The
danger posed by a rogue RP connecting to your network is minimized by the
fact that the RP must accept the settings configured on your Wireless Edge
Services xl Module. However, it is a good idea to enforce 802.1X authentication
on all physically accessible switch ports, and if you connect your RPs to such
ports, they must be able to authenticate themselves to the network.
The RPs 210, 220, and 230 include an 802.1X client for such authentication.
Using Message Digest 5 (MD5) authentication, the client automatically sends
the RP’s credentials when the RP connects to a network device that requires
port authentication. The switch to which the RP connects forwards the
credentials to an authentication server and, if they are correct, allows the RP
to join the network.
The authentication server may store a VLAN setting for the RP and sends this
VLAN setting to the switch after the RP authenticates. Such dynamic config-
uration of the Radio Port VLAN can replace auto-provisioning on the wireless
services-enabled switch or manual configuration on an infrastructure switch.
(For more information about configuring Radio Port VLANs, see “Communi-
cating with RPs: Radio Port VLANs” on page 1-8.)
The default username and password on all ProCurve 200 Series RPs are admin
and procurve, respectively.
ProCurve Networking suggests that you change these settings, using a Wire-
less Edge Services xl Module to load new credentials on your organization’s
RPs. You can then move these RPs to their final locations and be sure that they
can authenticate and connect to your network. (To learn how to configure
RPs’ 802.1X username and password, see Chapter 2: Configuring the
ProCurve Wireless Edge Services xl Module.)