Quick Reference Guide

System Planning and Deployment Scenarios

ProSAFE Wireless Controller WC9500

System Planning

This section includes the following subsections:

• Preinstallation Planning

• Before You Configure a Wireless Controller

Preinstallation Planning

Before you install any wireless controllers, determine the following:

• Number of access points required to provide seamless coverage

• Number of licenses required to cover all access points that need to be managed

• Number of wireless controllers required

• 802.1

1 frequency band and the channels that are optimal for WiFi usage

NETGEAR recommends that you perform a site survey:

• Run a spectrum analysis of channels of the site to determine the current RF behavior and

detect both 802.11 and non-802.1

1 noise.

• Run an access point-to-client connectivity test to determine the maximum throughput

achievable on the client.

• Identify potential RF obstructions and interference sources.

• Determine areas where denser coverage might be required because of heavier usage.

Before You Configure a Wireless Controller

These sections assume that you have deployed at least one wireless controller in your

network and are ready to configure the wireless controller. For information about how to

deploy the wireless controller in your network, see the ProSAFE Wireless Controller WC9500

Installation Guide that you can download from http://support.netgear.com/product/WC9500.

For many configurations, you can use the default wireless settings. The IP address, VLAN,

DHCP server, client authentication, and data encryption settings are specific to your

environment. Following are short sections that describe these settings (except for IP address

settings, which are self-explanatory). For information about how to configure these settings,

see the relevant sections.

Management VLAN

The management VLAN is the dedicated VLAN for access to the wireless controller. All traffic

that is directed to the wireless controller, including HTTP, HTTPS, SNMP, and SSH traffic, is

carried over the management VLAN.

If the management VLAN is also configured as a tagged VLAN (the most common

configuration), the packets to and from the wireless controller carry the 802.1Q VLAN header

with the assigned VLAN number. If the management VLAN is marked as untagged, the