Configuring APs 271
Nortel WLAN—Security Switch 2300 Series Configuration Guide
●If the AP does not get a response, then it sends a Find WSS message to UDP port 5000 on the subnet
broadcast address.
❍If the AP receives a response to the broadcast Find WSS message, then the process continues
using the procedure described under “How a distributed AP contacts a WSS (DHCP-obtained
address)”, starting with step 6 on page 270.
❍If there is no response to the broadcast Find WSS message, then the process skips to step 4 on
page 271.
●If the WSS is not part of the local subnet, then the AP uses the default router address to contact the
WSS.
2If Item A, but not Item B is specified, then the AP uses the specified static IP configuration, and
broadcasts a Find WSS message to the subnet.
●If the AP receives a response to the broadcast Find WSS message, then the process continues using
the procedure described under “How a distributed AP contacts a WSS (DHCP-obtained address)”,
starting with step 6 on page 270.
●If there is no response to the broadcast Find WSS message, the WSS continues broadcasting the
Find WSS message for a period of time. If still no response is received, then the process skips to
step 4 on page 271.
3If Items A and C are specified, the AP sends a DNS request to resolve the fully qualified domain name of
the WSS. If the DNS server is not on the local subnet, the AP uses the default router address to contact the
DNS server.
●If there is no response from the DNS server, then the process skips to step 4 on page 271
●If there is a response from the DNS server, then the AP sends a Find WSS message to the WSS.
❍If a response is received from the WSS, then the AP sends a unicast message to the WSS, to
request an operational image.
❍If a response is not received from the WSS, then the process skips to step 4 on page 271.
4If the AP cannot reach the WSS using the static IP address information, then the AP attempts to boot
using the default boot process; that is, by contacting a DHCP server, as described in “How a distributed
AP obtains an IP address through DHCP” on page 268. If the default AP boot process does not succeed,
then the AP again attempts to boot using its statically configured IP information. The AP alternates
between the two boot processes until the WSS is contacted.
If the default AP boot process is successful, but the DHCP response does not include a DNS server
address, then the IP address of the DNS server specified as part of Item C is used.

Loading and activating an operational image

An AP’s operational image is the software that allows it to function on the network as a wireless access point. As part of
the AP boot process, an operational image is loaded into the AP’s RAM and activated. The AP stores copies of its oper-
ational image locally, in its internal flash memory. The AP can either load the locally stored image, or it can download
an operational image from the WSS to which it has connected.
After the AP establishes a connection to a WSS, the AP’s bootloader determines if the WSS permits the AP to load a
local image or if the image should be downloaded from the WSS.
The AP loads its local image only if the WSS is running WSS Software Version 5.0 or later, and the WSS does not have
a newer AP image than the one stored locally on the AP. If the WSS is not running WSS Software Version 5.0 or later,
or the WSS has a newer version of the AP image than the version in the AP’s local storage, the AP downloads the oper-
ational image from the WSS.