Networks

Virtual Access Points (VAPs), segment the wireless LAN into multiple broadcast domains that are wireless equivalent of the Ethernet VLANs. VAPs simulate multiple access points on one physical WAP device. Up to four VAPs are supported on this Cisco WAP device.

Each VAP can be independently enabled or disabled, with the exception of VAP0. The VAP0 is the physical radio interface and remains enabled as long as the radio is enabled. To disable the VAP0, the radio itself must be disabled.

Each VAP is identified by a user-configured Service Set Identifier (SSID). Multiple VAPs cannot have the same SSID name. SSID broadcasts can be enabled or disabled independently on each VAP. SSID broadcast is enabled by default.

SSID Naming Conventions

The default SSID for VAP0 is ciscosb. Every additional VAP created has a blank SSID name. The SSIDs for all VAPs can be configured to other values. The SSID can be any alphanumeric, case-sensitive entry from 2 to 32 characters.

The following characters are allowed:

  • ASCII 0x20 through 0x7E.

  • Trailing and leading spaces (ASCII 0x20) are not permitted.

Note

This means that spaces are allowed within the SSID, but not as the first or last character including the period “.” (ASCII 0x2E).

VLAN IDs

Each VAP is associated with a VLAN, and is identified by a VLAN ID (VID). A VID can be any value from 1 to 4094, inclusive. This Cisco WAP device supports nine active VLANs (eight for WLAN plus one management VLAN).

By default, the VID assigned to the configuration utility for the WAP device is 1, which is also the default untagged VID. If the management VID is the same as the VID assigned to a VAP, then the WLAN clients associated with this specific VAP can administer the WAP device. If needed, an access control list (ACL) can be created to disable administration from WLAN clients.