Installation guide

OmniAccess OAW-AP70: Installation Guide
8 Part 031644-00 May 2005
z Manual Provisioning—APs can be individually provisioned using a serial
console terminal connected to the AP. Although this method is complex
and requires considerable care, manual provisioning can be used in almost
any scenario, with or without access to the Wireless LAN switch.
NOTE—Manual provisioning is intended for use when no Alcatel Wireless LAN Switch
is available, and is not generally recommended as the primary method of AP provi-
sioning. Plug and play or AP programming mode are the preferred provisioning
methods.
Each of these three methods is explained in the following sections. Use these
procedures for initial provisioning of APs. To change the configuration for APs
that have already been provisioned, go to Maintenance > Program AP >
Re-Provision
. See the AOS-W User Guide for more information on
reprovisioning existing APs.
Alcatel Discovery Protocol
Alcatel Discovery Protocol (ADP) is a plug-and-play provisioning tool for Alcatel
AP70 Access Points. ADP performs two tasks:
z Obtains the IP address of the TFTP server from which it downloads the AP
boot image
z It discovers the IP address of the master Alcatel Wireless LAN switch in the
network from which the AP can download its configuration.
The address of the TFTP server that ADP discovers is the equivalent of the
BOOTROM environment variable serverip. The IP address of the Alcatel master
switch is the equivalent of the environment variable master.
ADP can discover these values using DHCP or by discovery. In the case of
DHCP, ADP relies on a DHCP server which is configured to return the IP
address of the Master switch using the Vendor Specific Options in DHCP. To
facilitate ADP, Alcatel APs include this Vendor Specific Option in the requested
Option list, and if the DHCP server is configured to return the IP address of the
Master switch, the IP address will be a part of the DHCP response. This is
used by the AP to get its image as well as its configuration.
CAUTION—When an Alcatel AP70 powers up for the first time, it is provisioned as having
an internal antenna. If the network administrator wants to configure the Alcatel AP70 with an
external (detachable) antenna, The network administrator must select the External Antenna
option and set the antenna gain manually (in Maintenance > Wireless LAN > Program AP
> Provision) before the Alcatel AP70 can function as an Access Point. Until the antenna
gain is set, the Alcatel AP70 with detachable antennas will function as an Air Monitor but will
not process wireless packets as an Access Point. Refer to the User Guide for instructions on
manually setting antenna gain.