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Cisco Aironet 1200 Series Access Point Hardware Installation Guide
OL-8370-04
Chapter 1 Overview
Lightweight Access Points
The Cisco Aironet 1200 Series Access Points (modes: AIR-LAP1231G and AIR-LAP1232AG) combine
mobility and flexibility with the enterprise-class features required by networking professionals. These
access points are part of the Cisco Integrated Wireless Network Solution and require no manual
configuration before they are mounted. The access point is automatically configured by a Cisco wireless
LAN controller (hereafter called a controller) using the Lightweight Access Point Protocol (LWAPP).
The access point contains two integrated radios: a 2.4-GHz radio (IEEE 802.11g) and a 5-GHz radio
(I
EEE 802.11a). Using a controller, you can configure the radios separately with different settings on
each.
Note The 1200 series lightweight does not support the 802.11b radio or the 802.11a RM20A radio module.
In the Cisco Centralized Wireless LAN architecture, access points operate in the lightweight mode (as
opp
osed to autonomous mode). The access points associate to a controller. The controller manages the
configuration, firmware, and control transactions such as 802.1x authentication. In addition, all wireless
traffic is tunneled through the controller.
LWAPP is an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) draft protocol that defines the control messaging
fo
r setup and path authentication and run-time operations. LWAPP also defines the tunneling mechanism
for data traffic.
In an LWAPP environment, a lightweight access point discovers a controller by using LWAPP discovery
m
echanisms and then sends it an LWAPP join request. The controller sends the access point an LWAPP
join response allowing the access point to join the controller. When the access point is joined, the access
point attempts to download new operating system software if the software versions on the access point
and controller do not match. After an access point joins a controller, you can reassign it to any controller
on your network.
LWAPP secures the control communication between the access point and controller by means of a secure
k
ey distribution, utilizing X.509 certificates on both the access point and controller.
This chapter provides information on the following topics:
• Guidelines for Using 1200 Series Lightweight Access Points, page 1-3
• Hardware Features, page 1-3
• Network Examples with Autonomous Access Points, page 1-7