Owners manual

Chapter 1 Introduction

NWA5000 / WAC6500 Series User’s Guide

You can set the NWA/WAC to operate in either standalone AP or managed AP mode. When the

NWA/WAC is in standalone AP mode, it can serve as a normal AP, as an RF monitor to search for

rouge APs to help eliminate network threats (if it supports monitor mode and rogue APs detection),

or even as a root AP or a wireless repeater to establish wireless links with other APs in a WDS

(Wireless Distribution System). A WDS is a wireless connection between two or more APs.

Your NWA/WAC’s business-class reliability, SMB features, and centralized wireless management

make it ideally suited for advanced service delivery in mission-critical networks. It uses Multiple

BSSID and VLAN to provide simultaneous independent virtual APs. Additionally, innovations in

roaming technology and QoS features eliminate voice call disruptions.

The NWA/WAC controls network access with Media Access Control (MAC) address filtering, and

rogue Access Point (AP) detection. It also provides a high level of network traffic security,

supporting IEEE 802.1x, Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 and Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) data

encryption.

Your NWA/WAC is easy to install, configure and use. The embedded Web-based configurator

enables simple, straightforward management and maintenance. See the Quick Start Guide for how

to make hardware connections.

1.1.1 Management Mode

The NWA/WAC is a unified AP and can work either in standalone AP mode or in managed AP mode.

If the NWA/WAC and a ZyXEL AP controller, such as the NXC2500 or NXC5500, are in the same

subnet, it will be managed by the controller automatically.

An AP controller uses Control And Provisioning of Wireless Access Points (CAPWAP, see RFC 5415)

to discover and configure multiple managed APs.

To set the NWA/WAC to be managed by an AP controller in a different subnet or change between

management modes, use the AC (AP Controller) Discovery screen (see Section 5.4 on page 63).

When the NWA/WAC is in standalone AP mode and connects to a DHCP server, it uses the IP

address assigned by the DHCP server. Otherwise, the NWA/WAC uses the default static

management IP address (192.168.1.2). You can use the AC Discovery screen to have the NWA/

WAC work as a managed AP.

Number of Wireless Radios 2 2 2 2

Monitor Mode & Rogue APs Detection Yes Yes Yes Yes

Layer-2 Isolation Yes Yes Yes Yes

External Antennas Yes No No Yes

Internal Antenna No Yes Yes No

Maximum number of log messages 512 event logs or 1024 debug logs

Table 2 WAC Series Comparison Table

FEATURES WAC6502D-E WAC6502D-S WAC6503D-S WAC6553D-E

Table 3 NWA/WAC Management Mode Comparison

MANAGEMENT MODE DEFAULT IP ADDRESS UPLOAD FIRMWARE VIA

Standalone AP

Dynamic or

Static (192.168.1.2)

Web Configurator or FTP

Managed AP Dynamic CAPWAP or FTP