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cisco wlse

carl_townshend
Spotlight
Spotlight

Hi all, I have started a with a new company, I have found all the ap's report to a wlse, what does the wlse do in short? and what is it useful for?

6 Replies 6

Craig Balfour
Level 1
Level 1

The Cisco WLSE, or Wireless LAN Solutions Engine, is an appliance which you might have guessed is to used for managing Aironet wireless access points and bridges.

I guess you could say that it is to Aironet access points what Cisco LAN Management Solution (LMS) is to switches and routers.

It is only used for managing Aironet access points and not Lightweight Access Point Protocol (LWAPP) access points which use the WCS, or Wireless Control System (http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6305/)

Take a look at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/sw/cscowork/ps3915/index.html for more information about the WLSE and a list of its features.

chald
Level 1
Level 1

Hi all,

WLSE is a central placed management station for Finding errors, trouble shoot, optimizing RF performance, IOS updates, deployment of global config changes that are shared with all APs and rough AP detection if WDS is used.

If you have enables WDS (wireless Domain Service)read more here http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk722/tk809/technologies_q_and_a_item09186a00804d4421.shtml#qa1

And AP have and auth. and should have security keys setup from WDS Primary to WLSE (can have BACKUP WDS APs).

Then you can enable something called fast secure roaming that can reduce roaming/auth time. VERY important if you have Voice over WIFI.

"And AP have and auth. and should have security keys setup from WDS Primary to WLSE (can have BACKUP WDS APs)."

Are you sure about the above statement? Are you not referring to the WLSM?

According to http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk722/tk809/technologies_q_and_a_item09186a00804d4421.shtml:

Q. What is the role of the Wireless LAN Solution Engine (WLSE) in a WDS-enabled wireless LAN (WLAN) network?

A. APs and, optionally, Cisco client devices or Cisco-compatible client devices take radio frequency (RF) measurements within a single subnetwork. Cisco SWAN WDS aggregates the measurements and forwards the measurements to CiscoWorks WLSE for analysis. With these measurements as a basis, CiscoWorks WLSE can:

* Detect rogue APs and interference from other devices

* Provide assisted site surveys

* Support WLAN self-healing for optimal channel and power-level setting

Q. What are the advantages of the use of WDS on a Wireless LAN Services Module (WLSM)?

A. The introduction of switch-based WDS and the WLSM facilitates Layer 3 (L3) fast secure roaming (FSR) and provides a highly scalable solution for L3 mobility in the campus. Switch-based WDS centralizes the functionality of WDS in the WLSM blade in a central switch and provides these benefits:

* Increased WDS scalability?The scalability increases to 300 APs and 6000 users across a campus wireless LAN (WLAN) network.

* Simplified design and implementation?No VLANs span the campus network. With the use of multipoint generic routing encapsulation (mGRE) architecture, no changes to the current network wired infrastructure are necessary.

* Manageability for a large WLAN deployment?This solution provides a single point of ingress for both WLAN control and user data into the wired network for which to apply security and quality of service (QoS) policies.

* L3 mobility between floors and across multiple buildings

* The ability to use advanced features on the Cisco Catalyst 6500, which includes other Catalyst 6500 service modules

* Enhanced end-to-end security and QoS by integration with the Catalyst 6500 platform

HKS-HORSH-01#sh wlccp wds ap

HOSTNAME MAC-ADDR IP-ADDR STATE

HKS-HORSH-09 0015.f9c9.6e98 10.109.2.109 REGISTERED

HKS-HORSH-03 0014.a9ac.deb2 10.109.2.103 REGISTERED

...

if you use a show wlccp wds wnm on the WDS PRI you have a security setup keys but wifi can work without WDS just not fast secure roaming.

WLSM is for bigger enterprice installations.

remember for every L2 network of AP you have a WDS domain.

can anyone explain what WDS is used for and does ?

WDS is used to make a trust relationship (leap username and password) to authenticate the APs.

WDS is used as I told in the first message, for better roaming times 500 mSec down to 250msec. because if he primary WDS AP cache the keys, so when you roam from 1 AP to another and have to be authenticated again you do not have to go over a slow WAN link. the APs that participate in WDS ask the WDS master and get the cashed keys. But WDS is not used in open non encrypted WIFI networks.

for further reading look at the link..

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk722/tk809/technologies_q_and_a_item09186a00804d4421.shtml#qa1

an AP have a limitation of 60 AP in one WDS.

WLSM does not have that limitation and it says that you can either use WLSM or AP to do the WDS Master election for you.

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