Specifications

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Cisco IOS Software Configuration Guide for Cisco Aironet Access Points

OL-5260-01

Chapter 1 Overview

Management Options

You can use the access point management system through the following interfaces:

• The Cisco IOS command-line interface (CLI), which you use through a Telnet session. Most of the

examples in this manual are taken from the CLI. Chapter 4, “Using the Command-Line Interface,”

provides a detailed description of the CLI.

• A web-browser interface, which you use through a web browser. Chapter 3, “Using the

Web-Browser Interface,” provides a detailed description of the web-browser interface.

• Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). Chapter 18, “Configuring SNMP,” explains how to

configure your access point for SNMP management.

Roaming Client Devices

If you have more than one access point in your wireless LAN, wireless client devices can roam

seamlessly from one access point to another. The roaming functionality is based on signal quality, not

proximity. When a client’s signal quality drops, it roams to another access point.

Wireless LAN users are sometimes concerned when a client device stays associated to a distant access

point instead of roaming to a closer access point. However, if a client’s signal to a distant access point

remains strong and the signal quality is high, the client will not roam to a closer access point. Checking

constantly for closer access points would be inefficient, and the extra radio traffic would slow throughput

on the wireless LAN.

Using CCKM and a device providing Wireless Domain Services (WDS), client devices can roam from

one access point to another so quickly that there is no perceptible delay in voice or other time-sensitive

applications.

Network Configuration Examples

This section describes the access point’s role in common wireless network configurations. The access

point’s default configuration is as a root unit connected to a wired LAN or as the central unit in an

all-wireless network. The repeater role requires a specific configuration.

Root Unit on a Wired LAN

An access point connected directly to a wired LAN provides a connection point for wireless users. If

more than one access point is connected to the LAN, users can roam from one area of a facility to another

without losing their connection to the network. As users move out of range of one access point, they

automatically connect to the network (associate) through another access point. The roaming process is

seamless and transparent to the user. Figure 1-1 shows access points acting as root units on a wired LAN.