Design Guide

Cisco Aironet 1520, 1130, 1240 Series Wireless Mesh Access Points, Design and Deployment Guide, Release 6.0

OL-20213-01

Mesh Network Components

The Cisco wireless mesh network has four core components:

• Cisco Aironet 1520, 1240, and 1130 Series mesh access points

Note Cisco Aironet 1505 and 1510 mesh access points are not supported in this release.

• Cisco wireless LAN controller (hereafter referred to as controller)

• Cisco WCS

• Mesh software architecture

Mesh Access Points

Licensing for Indoor Mesh Access Points on a 5500 Series Controller

In order to use indoor mesh access points (1130, 1240) with a 5500 series controller, a wplus license

must be used on the controller. If an indoor mesh access point attempts to join a controller that is using

only a base license (and not the wplus license), the following message appears in the controller trap log:

“License Not Available for feature: IndoorMeshAP.” To view the controller trap log, choose Monitor

and click View All under “Most Recent Traps” on the controller GUI.

Refer to Chapter 4 of the Cisco Wireless LAN Controller Configuration Guide, Release 6.0 for

information on obtaining and installing licenses:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/wireless/controller/6.0/configuration/guide/Controller60CG.html

Note Outdoor mesh access points (1522, 1524PS, and 1524SB) do not require a wplus license.

Note Other controller platforms (such as the 2100 and 4400 series controllers) also require a license for use

with indoor mesh access points. Refer to the Cisco Enterprise Wireless Mesh Licensing and Ordering

Guide:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6087/products_data_sheets_list.html

Access Point Roles

Access points within a mesh network operate as either a root access point (RAP) or a mesh access point

(MAP).

Note All mesh access points are shipped configured as a MAP. You must reconfigure the mesh access point

for it to be a RAP. At least one RAP must exist in all mesh networks.

RAPs have wired connections to their controller, and MAPs have wireless connections to their controller.