WESM zl Management and Configuration Guide WT.01.28 and greater

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Introduction
Radio Ports
It is important to understand the relationship between SSIDs and BSSIDs. An SSID
identifies a WLAN; the two are connected with a one-to-one correspondence. As a
MAC address, a BSSID identifies an RP in that WLAN— one of the perhaps many
RPs that offer wireless stations a connection to that WLAN.
Like switches that can carry traffic for multiple VLANs, most RPs, including the
ProCurve RPs, can support multiple WLANs, each of which is identified by its own
SSID.
An RP can identify itself with a unique BSSID in each WLAN. This provides the
greatest flexibility in configuring the WLAN. The RP can also carry traffic for
multiple WLANs on the same BSSID. The SSIDs for these WLANs are said to
“share” the BSSID.
Each ProCurve RP 210 provides four separate BSSIDs. The ProCurve 220 and 230,
which include two built-in radios, provide eight BSSIDs, four on each radio. Up to
four SSIDs can share each BSSID, which means that each RP radio can support up
to 16 WLANs. In Figure 1-21, SSID A (WLAN 1) and SSID E (WLAN 5) share
BSSID 1 on each RP radio.
Figure 1-21. SSID and BSSID on ProCurve RPs