Question

Describe briefly the AP (access point) discovery mechanism. Please typewrite your answer, no handwritten answers please.

Answer 1

Access point: It is a hardware device or a computer's software that acts as a communication hub for users of a wireless device to connect to a wired LAN. APs are important for providing heightened wireless security and for extending the physical range of service a wireless user has access to.

Access point discovery mechanism:
1. Get the IP of the access point and check the available WLCs
2. Access point can discover the WLC and then needs to select one of the discovered WLCs to join.

In other words:
- A LAP issues a DHCP discovery request to get an IP address, unless it has previously had a static IP address configured.
- The LAP sends LWAPP discovery request messages to the WLCs. These WLCs can be either in local or remote subnets. This way, there can be many WLCs which may respond a single LWAPP Discovery Request. A list of all those WLCs is prepared.
- From the [various(if many WLCs)] LWAPP discovery responses, the LAP receives, the LAP selects a WLC to join.
- The LAP then sends an LWAPP join request to the WLC and expects an LWAPP join response.