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WFS709TP ProSafe Smart Wireless Switch Software Administration Manual
Overview of the WFS709TP 1-5
v1.0, June 2007
You can also enable WFS709TPs to detect coverage holes, or areas where a good RF signal is not
adequately reaching wireless clients.
RF Monitoring
An AP can function as either a dedicated or shared Air Monitor (AM) to monitor the RF spectrum
to detect intrusions, denial of service (DoS) attacks, and other vulnerabilities. A dedicated AM
performs monitoring functions exclusively and does not service wireless clients or advertise
SSIDs. A shared AM performs monitoring functions in addition to servicing wireless clients.
Every AP automatically monitors the channel on which it services wireless clients. You can
configure the AP to perform off-channel scanning, where the AP spends brief time intervals
scanning other channels. However, the more clients an AP services, the less time it has to perform
off-channel scanning. If air monitoring functions are critical to your network, designate a few APs
as dedicated AMs.
You can configure dedicated AMs to perform the following functions:
• Detect, locate, and disable rogue APs (APs that are not authorized or sanctioned by network
administrators)
• Detect and disable ad-hoc networks
• Detect and disable honeypot APs
• Detect wireless bridges
• Capture remote packets
If you only need air monitoring functions periodically, you can configure APs to operate
temporarily as AMs. You can also configure dedicated AMs to automatically convert into APs if
an AP failure occurs or when there is a high level of traffic on the network.
WFS709TP ProSafe Switches
All APs are connected either directly or remotely through an IP network to the WFS709TP
ProSafe Smart Wireless Switch. The WFS709TP is an enterprise-class switch that bridges wireless
client traffic to and from traditional wired networks and performs high-speed Layer 2 or Layer 3
packet forwarding between Ethernet ports. While APs provide radio services only, the WFS709TP
performs upper-layer media access control (MAC) processing, such as encryption and
authentication, as well as centralized configuration and management of SSIDs and RF
characteristics for the APs. This allows you to deploy APs with little or no physical change to an
existing wired infrastructure.