Wireless Bridging between two 1242 AP's

[steigja]

Hello All,

I have a trailer at a client that I'am trying to connect to the main building via a wireless bridge using two 1242 AP's. I'am trunking on the connection to each AP using dot1q. I don't mind all the vlans going to the trailer so I'am not limiting the vlans. What do I have to do on the AP's to get this to work exactly? Are there any guides on this? thanks

Jason

[jeff.kish]

Hi Jason,

If you're unfamiliar with the CLI, you should probably use the GUI. Here's what's needed to establish a bridge link between two APs:

1. Only one SSID is needed, regardless of the number of VLANs

2. The SSID should be placed in the native VLAN (as only one VLAN can be associate to an SSID)

3. Encryption for the link should be attached to the native VLAN

4. The SSID should be configured for infrastructure mode only

5. Every other VLAN should be created, but not assigned to anything.

6. The radio role/mode must be set to root bridge on side and non-root bridge on the other side

The critical realization is that only one SSID is used. It's perhaps what's most confusing about bridges. To my knowledge, you need to configure every VLAN you want to traverse the link. I do not know of any way to simply allow all VLANs.

Also, know that the channel can be set on the root side (and should be hard set to channel 1, 6, or 11 if using 2.4GHz), but you cannot configure the channel on the non-root. This is because the non-root scans all channels and matches to the root.

Let me know if you need assistance with any of this. I or someone else on the boards would be glad to help.

Jeff

[Leo Laohoo]

Access Point as a Workgroup Bridge Configuration Example

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/wireless/ps430/products_configuration_example09186a00805b9b87.shtml

Wireless Bridges Point-to-Point Link Configuration Example

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk722/tk809/technologies_configuration_example09186a008058f53e.shtml

[bdunsing2]

Jason - I had the same issue recently. If you still need help with this, let me know.

[rtoomey]

I have a similar requirement, except that the APs I have are rather old 1220B units. I've configured/installed 1300 series wireless bridges, but I'm unclear on whether or not I can use the workgroup bridge option on the two 1220B APs to establish a p-to-p wireless link between a couple of buildings that are about 1200 feet apart. Line of sight is good, and I have access to some low-loss coax and high-gain antennas so that I wouldn't have to expose the 1220Bs to the elements, only the antennas. Can AP1220Bs be configured to function in this fashion? I don't see an option on the 1220Bs (at least via the IOS GUI) to define one AP as a root bridge and the other as a non-root. Rick T.