Example for Configuring Agile Distributed Wi-Fi Services

WLAN V200R019C00 Typical Configuration Examples

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Service Requirements

Students in dormitories need to access the Internet through WLANs.

Walls between numerous rooms in the dormitory building cause serious wireless signal attenuation, degrading signal quality. To resolve this issue, an agile distributed WLAN is used, with a remote unit (RU) deployed in each dormitory. RUs are connected to a central AP, and all RUs and the central AP are centrally managed by the AC, delivering high-quality WLAN coverage for each dormitory.

Networking Requirements

AC networking mode: Layer 2 networking in inline mode
DHCP deployment mode: The AC functions as a DHCP server to assign IP addresses to the central AP, RUs, and STAs.
Service data forwarding mode: tunnel forwarding
Uplink interfaces of a central AP have a high transmission rate, and connect to an AC and forward service traffic of all connected RUs. Downlink interfaces of a central AP connect to RUs. If the number of downlink interfaces of the central AP is insufficient, one downlink interface can be connected to an uplink interface of a PoE switch, through which RUs can connect the central AP. This increases the number of connected RUs. For example, an AD9431DN-24X provides four 10GE uplink interfaces numbered from 0 to 3 and 24 GE downlink interfaces numbered from 0 to 23.

Figure 5-6 Networking for configuring an agile distributed WLAN

Data Planning

Table 5-9 AC data planning

Item	Data
DHCP server	The AC functions as a DHCP server to assign IP addresses to central APs, RUs, and STAs.
IP address pool for central APs and RUs	10.23.100.2-10.23.100.254/24
IP address pool for STAs	10.23.101.2-10.23.101.254/24
AC's source interface address	VLANIF 100: 10.23.100.1/24
AP group	Name: ap-group1 Referenced profiles: VAP profile wlan-net and regulatory domain profile default
Regulatory domain profile	Name: default Country code: CN
SSID profile	Name: wlan-net SSID name: wlan-net
Security profile	Name: wlan-net Security policy: WPA-WPA2+PSK+AES Password: a1234567
VAP profile	Name: wlan-net Forwarding mode: tunnel forwarding Service VLAN: VLAN 101 Referenced profiles: SSID profile wlan-net and security profile wlan-net

Configuration Roadmap

Configure the AC, RUs, central APs, and network devices to communicate at Layer 2.
Select Config Wizard to configure system parameters for the AC.
Select Config Wizard to configure the central APs and RUs to go online on the AC.
Select Config Wizard to configure WLAN services on the AC.
Deliver the WLAN services to the central APs and RUs, and verify the configuration.

Configuration Notes

No ACK mechanism is provided for multicast packet transmission on air interfaces. In addition, wireless links are unstable. To ensure stable transmission of multicast packets, they are usually sent at low rates. If a large number of such multicast packets are sent from the network side, the air interfaces may be congested. You are advised to configure multicast packet suppression to reduce impact of a large number of low-rate multicast packets on the wireless network. Exercise caution when configuring the rate limit; otherwise, the multicast services may be affected.
- In direct forwarding mode, you are advised to configure multicast packet suppression on switch interfaces connected to APs.
- In tunnel forwarding mode, you are advised to configure multicast packet suppression in traffic profiles of the AC.
For details on how to configure traffic suppression, see How Do I Configure Multicast Packet Suppression to Reduce Impact of a Large Number of Low-Rate Multicast Packets on the Wireless Network?.
Configure port isolation on the interfaces of the device directly connected to APs. If port isolation is not configured and direct forwarding is used, a large number of unnecessary broadcast packets may be generated in the VLAN, blocking the network and degrading user experience.
In tunnel forwarding mode, the management VLAN and service VLAN cannot be the same. Only packets from the management VLAN are transmitted between the AC and APs. Packets from the service VLAN are not allowed between the AC and APs.

Procedure

Configure the network devices.
# Add GE1/0/0 on Router to VLAN 101. Create VLANIF 101 and set its IP address to 10.23.101.2/24.
```
<Huawei> system-view
[Huawei] sysname Router
[Router] vlan batch 101
[Router] interface gigabitethernet 1/0/0
[Router-GigabitEthernet1/0/0] port link-type trunk
[Router-GigabitEthernet1/0/0] port trunk allow-pass vlan 101
[Router-GigabitEthernet1/0/0] quit
[Router] interface vlanif 101
[Router-Vlanif101] ip address 10.23.101.2 24
[Router-Vlanif101] quit
```
# Configure the switch to enable Layer 2 communication between the central AP and RUs. If a Huawei switch is used, interfaces on it are added to VLAN 1 by default and can communicate one another at Layer 2. Therefore, this configuration is not required on the switch. If a non-Huawei switch is used, perform the configuration to enable Layer 2 communication of uplink and downlink interfaces.
On the network between RUs and the central AP, service packets of STAs must be properly forwarded. In this example, the tunnel forwarding mode is used. Therefore, service VLAN packets do not need to be permitted between the central AP and RUs. If the direct forwarding mode is used, configure the network between the central AP and RUs to permit service VLAN packets depending on the central AP model.
- If the central AP is a gigabit AP (such as the AD9430DN-24), such configuration is not required on the switch. Because all service packets from RUs are first sent to the central AP through MAC-IN-MAC tunnels, these packets need to be permitted only from the upstream direction of the central AP.
- If the central AP is a 10GE AP (such as the AD9431DN-24X), add uplink and downlink interfaces on the switch to the service VLAN. Because service packets are forwarded starting from the upstream direction of RUs, these packets must be permitted from the upstream direction of RUs.
Configure system parameters for the AC.
1. Perform basic AC configurations.
  # Choose Configuration > Config Wizard > AC. The Basic AC Configuration page is displayed.
  
  # Set Country/Region based on actual situations. For example, set Country/Region to China. Set System time to Manual and Date and time to PC.
  
  # Click Next. The Port Configuration page is displayed.
2. Configure interfaces.
  # Select GigabitEthernet0/0/1 and expand Batch Modify. Set Interface type to Trunk and add GigabitEthernet0/0/1 to VLAN 100 (management VLAN).
  
  If the AC and APs are directly connected, set the default VLAN of the interfaces connected to the APs to management VLAN 100.
  
  # Click Apply. In the dialog box that is displayed, click OK.
  
  # Set Interface type of GigabitEthernet0/0/2 to Trunk and add the interface to VLAN 101 in the same way.
  
  # Click Next. The Network Interconnection Configuration page is displayed.
3. Configuring network interconnections.
  # Click Create under Interface Configuration. The Create Interface Configuration page is displayed.
  
  # Set the IP address of VLANIF 100 to 10.23.100.1/24.
  
  # Click Create under DHCPv4 Address Pool List, select Interface address pool and select VLANIF 100.
  
  # Click OK.
  
  # Set the IP address of VLANIF 101 to 10.23.101.1/24 and configure the interface address pool on VLANIF 101 in the same way. The IP address 10.23.101.2 cannot be assigned.
  
  Configure the DNS server address as required.
  
  # Under Static Route Table, click Create. The Create Static Route Table page is displayed.
  
  # Set Destination IP to 0.0.0.0, Subnet Mask to 0(0.0.0.0), and Next hop address to 10.23.101.2.
  
  # Click OK.
  
  # Click Next.
  
  # Click Next. The AC Source Address page is displayed.
4. Configure the source address for AC.
  # Set AC source address to VLANIF. Click the browse button and select Vlanif100.
  
  # Click Next. The Confirm Settings page is displayed.
5. Confirm the configuration.
  # Confirm the configuration and click Continue With AP Online.
Configure a central AP and RUs to go online.
1. Configure a central AP and RUs to go online.
  # Click Batch Import. The Batch Import page is displayed. Click to download an AP template file to your local computer.
  # Fill in the AP template file with AP information according to the following example. To add multiple APs, fill in the file with information of the APs.
  - MAC address of the central AP: 68a8-2845-62fd
  - AP SN: 210235419610CB002287
  - AP name: central_AP
  - AP group: ap-group1
  If AP authentication mode is set to MAC address authentication, the AP's MAC address is mandatory and the AP's SN is optional.
  
  If AP authentication mode is set to SN authentication, the AP's SN is mandatory and the AP's MAC address is optional.
  
  You are advised to import the radio ID, AP channel, frequency bandwidth, and power planned on WLAN Planner to a .csv file, and then enter them in the AP template file. Set the longitude and latitude as required.
  # Click next to Import AP File, select the AP template file, and click Import.
  
  # On the page that displays the template import result, click OK.
  
  # Click Next. The Group APs page is displayed.
  
  # AP group information has been added in the AP template file. Click Next. The Confirm Configurations page is displayed.
2. Confirm the configuration.
  # Confirm the configuration and click Continue With Wireless Service Configuration.
Configure WLAN services.
# Click Create. The Basic Information page is displayed.

# Set the SSID name, forwarding mode, and service VLAN.

# Click Next. The Security Authentication page is displayed.

# Set Security settings to Key (applicable to personnel networks), select the AES mode, and set the key.

# Click Next. The Access Control page is displayed.

# Set Binding the AP group to ap-group1.

# Click Finish.
Configure the RU channel and power.
1. Disable automatic channel and power calibration functions of AP radios, and manually configure the AP channel and power.
  
  Automatic channel and power calibration functions are enabled by default. The manual channel and power configurations take effect only when these two functions are disabled.
  
  # Choose Configuration > AP Config > AP Config > AP Info. The AP List page is displayed.
  
  # Click the ID of the AP whose channel and power need to be configured. The AP customized settings page is displayed.
  
  # Click next to Radio Management. The profiles under Radio Management are displayed.
  
  # Click Radio 0. On the radio 0 configuration page that is displayed, disable the automatic channel and power calibration functions, and set the channel to 20-MHz channel 6 and transmit power to 127 dBm.
  
  # The configuration of Radio 1 is similar to that of Radio0. Disable automatic channel and power calibration functions, and set the AP channel to 20-MHz channel 149 and transmit power to 127 dBm.
  
  # Click Apply. In the dialog box that is displayed, click OK.
Verify the configuration.
1. Choose Monitoring > SSID > VAP. In VAP List, check VAP status. You can see that the status of the VAP in wlan-net is normal.
2. The WLAN with the SSID wlan-net is available.
3. The STA can associate with the WLAN and obtain an IP address 10.23.101.x/24, and its gateway address is 10.23.101.1.
4. Choose Monitoring > User > User List. All online users are displayed in User List. You can use the filtering function to filter the display results. For example, click next to SSID. Set the filtering condition, enter wlan-net, and click OK. Users connected to the SSID wlan-net are displayed. Multi-column filtering is supported to accurately query online users.