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Chapter 1 Overview
Lightweight Access Points
The Cisco Aironet 1200 Series Access Points (modes:
The access point contains two integrated radios: a
Note The 1200 series lightweight does not support the 802.11b radio or the 802.11a RM20A radio module.
In the Cisco Centralized Wireless LAN architecture, access points operate in the lightweight mode (as opposed to autonomous mode). The access points associate to a controller. The controller manages the configuration, firmware, and control transactions such as 802.1x authentication. In addition, all wireless traffic is tunneled through the controller.
LWAPP is an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) draft protocol that defines the control messaging for setup and path authentication and
In an LWAPP environment, a lightweight access point discovers a controller by using LWAPP discovery mechanisms and then sends it an LWAPP join request. The controller sends the access point an LWAPP join response allowing the access point to join the controller. When the access point is joined, the access point attempts to download new operating system software if the software versions on the access point and controller do not match. After an access point joins a controller, you can reassign it to any controller on your network.
LWAPP secures the control communication between the access point and controller by means of a secure key distribution, utilizing X.509 certificates on both the access point and controller.
This chapter provides information on the following topics:
•Guidelines for Using 1200 Series Lightweight Access Points, page
•Hardware Features, page
•Network Examples with Autonomous Access Points, page
Cisco Aironet 1200 Series Access Point Hardware Installation Guide
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