D-Link DWS 3000 user manual Access Point-to-Switch Discovery, Access Point Placement

D-Link Unified Access System User Manual

Figure 9 shows two D-Link WLAN Controller Switches in the network data center. In this deployment, the switches do not connect directly to APs or end-user nodes.

Figure 9. Data Center Topology

LAN Switch

APs

WCS

Network

Backbone

WCS

Data Center

LAN Switch

APs

The data center topology is a good solution in networks where the goal is to add a wireless LAN to a network with minimal changes to the existing network. Traffic from wireless clients to the APs is either tunneled through the WCS or tagged with a VLAN ID by the AP and handled accordingly. If the traffic is tagged, it might not pass through the WCS.

Access Point-to-Switch Discovery

To enable the AP and WCS to discover each other, you can use one of the following four methods:

•Enter the IP address of the WCS into the AP

•Enter the IP address of the AP into the WCS

•Configure the DHCP server to pass the IP address of the WCS to the AP in DHCP option 43

•Use the D-Link Wireless Device Discovery Protocol

The AP-to-switch discovery method you use depends on your network topology. For example, if the WCS and AP are in the same Layer 2 multicast domain, we recommend that you use the D-Link Wireless Device Discovery Protocol.

These options are discussed in more detail in “Discovering Access Points and Peer Switches” on page 11“Discovering Access Points and Peer Switches” on page 57.

Access Point Placement

D-Link Access Points can be on the same subnet as the switch or on a different subnet. You can connect the AP directly to the WCS or to another networking device. The range of the D-Link Access Point is about 100 meters, but the range is affected by various environmental factors.

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