Wireless LAN Design
The HPE Aruba Networking WLAN portfolio provides a range of products for indoor or outdoor coverage, and centralized or distributed bridging with policy enforcement, that provide extensive capabilities for building 5G, location services, IoT, and more.
The WLAN can be designed using three different traffic engineering approaches:
- Bridge Mode - In this mode, the AP bridges traffic from the WLAN onto the correct user VLAN. AP-connected switch ports must trunk all wireless user VLANs.
- Tunnel Mode - In this mode, traffic is tunneled back to a gateway, which then bridges the WLAN frame to the correct user VLAN. It centralizes the data plane, applies advanced segmentation rules, and can be deployed in combination with user-based tunneling (UBT).
- Mixed Mode - This third option enables a single SSID to combine the two approaches above, so wireless client traffic can be bridged locally or sent through a tunnel based on applied policy.
The HPE Aruba Networking AP-5xx series access points, featuring Wi-Fi 6 technology, incorporate Bluetooth and IEEE 802.15.4 (ZigBee) radios to facilitate connectivity and management of IoT devices. The newer AP-6xx series access points, designed for Wi-Fi 6E, are equipped with 6 GHz radios, offering more than double the existing unlicensed spectrum to alleviate network congestion and enhance performance. Furthermore, these access points are furnished with an integrated GPS receiver and sophisticated software, allowing them to self-locate and serve as reference points for accurate indoor location measurements.
The campus WLAN design may contain one or more of the following elements:
- HPE Aruba Networking Central
- HPE Aruba Networking ClearPass
- HPE Aruba Networking Gateway 9xxx
- HPE Aruba Networking Gateway 7xxx
- HPE Aruba Networking AP-6xx
- HPE Aruba Networking AP-5xx
- HPE Aruba Networking UXI Gx Sensor