User Manual
Table Of Contents
- 1 About this Guide
- 2 Introduction to the Access Point
- 3 Unpacking the Access Point
- 4 Configurations
- 5 Becoming Familiar With the Access Point
- 6 ISA100 Backbone Router and Infrared-based Security
- 7 Network Deployment Examples
- 8 Preparing the Access Point
- 9 Deploying the Access Point
- 10 Declarations of Conformity and Regulatory Information
- Manufacturers Federal Communication Commission Declaration of Conformity Statement
- VCCI Statement for Japan
- Guidelines for Operating Cisco Aironet Access Points in Japan
- Statement 371-Power Cable and AC Adapter
- Industry Canada
- Canadian Compliance Statement
- European Community, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein
- Declaration of Conformity with regard to the R&TTE Directive 1999/5/EC & Medical Directive 93/42/EEC
- Declaration of Conformity for RF Exposure
- Administrative Rules for Cisco Aironet Access Points in Taiwan
- Operation of Cisco Aironet Access Points in Brazil
- Declaration of Conformity Statements
- 11 In Case of Difficulty
- 12 Cisco 90-Day Limited Hardware Warranty Terms
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each one parenting the same or different wireless networks. There can be more than one RAP for the
same mesh network for redundancy. RAPs and MAPs can support wireless clients on the 2.4-GHz and
5-GHz band. Client access on 5-GHz is called universal client access.
When the access point does not have a wired Ethernet connection to the controller (through a switch),
the radio role is called a MAP. The MAPs have a wireless connection (through the backhaul interface)
to other MAPs and finally to a RAP which has an Ethernet connection through a switch to the
controller. MAPs may also have a wired Ethernet connection to a local LAN and serve as a bridge
endpoint for that LAN (using a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint bridge connection).
Wireless Backhaul
The access point supports wireless backhaul capability using the 5-GHz radio to bridge to another
access point to reach a wired network connection to a controller as shown in
Figure 6. The access point
connected to the wired network is considered a RAP in this configuration. The remote access point is
considered a MAP and transfers wireless client traffic to the RAP for transfer to the wired network.
Control And Provisioning of Wireless Access Points (CAPWAP) control traffic is also transferred over
this bridged link.
The mesh access points can also be configured for point-to-point and point-to-multipoint bridging.
The access point is typically deployed in a mesh network configuration. In a typical mesh deployment,
one or more RAPs have a wired network connection through a switch to a controller. Other remote
MAPs without wired network connections use the backhaul feature to optimally link to a RAP that is
connected to the wired network. In the mesh network, the links between the access points are referred
to as the backhaul links.
Intelligent wireless routing is provided by the Adaptive Wireless Path protocol (AWPP). This enables
each MAP to identify its neighbors and intelligently choose the optimal path to the RAP with the wired
network connection by calculating the cost of each path in terms of signal strength and the number of
hops required to get to a controller with signal strength given priority since signal strength determines
the data rate available for backhaul.
Figure 6 illustrates a typical mesh configuration using access points.