User Manual

Professional Access Point
Administrator Guide
Pre-Launch Checklist: Default Settings and Supported Administrator/Client Platforms - 10
Understanding Dynamic and Static IP Addressing on the
Professional Access Point
Professional Access Points are designed to auto-configure, with very little setup required for the first
access point and miminal configuration required for additional access points subsequently joining a pre-
configured cluster.
How Does the Access Point Obtain an IP Address at Startup?
When you deploy the access point, it looks for a network DHCP server and, if it finds one, obtains an IP
Address from the DHCP server. If no DHCP server is found on the network, the access point will continue
to use its default Static IP Address (192.168.1.10) until you reassign it a new static IP address and specify
a static IP addressing policy or until a DHCP server is brought online.
When you run the Detection Utility, it discovers the Professional Access Points on the network and lists
their IP addresses and MAC addresses. The Detection Utility also provides a link to the Web User
Interface of each access point using the IP address in the URL. For more information about the Detection
Utility, see “Step 3. Run the Detection Utility to find access points on the network” on page 16.
Dynamic IP Addressing
The Professional Access Point generally expects that a DHCP server is running on the network where the
access point is deployed. Most business networks already have DHCP service provided through either a
gateway device or a centralized server. However, if no DHCP server is present on the Internal network, the
access point will use the default Static IP Address for first-time startup.
Similarly, wireless clients and other network devices will receive their IP addresses from the DHCP server,
if there is one. If no DHCP server is present on the network, you must manually assign static IP addresses
to your wireless clients and other network devices.
The Guest network must have a DHCP server.
Static IP Addressing
The Professional Access Point ships with a default Static IP Address of 192.168.1.10. (See “Default
Settings for the Professional Access Point” on page 6.) If no DHCP server is found on the network, the
access point retains this static IP address at first-time startup.
After access point startup, you have the option of specifying a static IP addressing policy on Professional
Access Points and assigning static IP addresses to APs on the Internal network via the access point Web
User Interface. (See information about the Connection Type field and related fields in “Configuring Internal
Note
• If you configure both an Internal and Guest network and plan to use a dynamic addressing policy
for both, separate DHCP servers must be running on each network.
• A DHCP server is a requirement for the Guest network.