Controllerless Networks

I have two APs currently; one is the Virtual Controller. They both exist on the same subnet and share a single WPA2 wifi network, but are in two physically separate buildings.

 

There are plans move both APs off the existing network and into totally different unconnected networks (not subnets).

 

The move will be a (still working it out) future date - but... Prior to the move I want to establish two separate networks on the wifi side - one Open (no security) on AP #1, and one WPA2 on AP#2. Neither AP should have the other network listed, so here comes the question: Should I switch one to a different management VLAN? Or convert one (or both) to Standalone mode?

 

Thanks in advance

They both need to share a management VLAN if they're going to be part of the same cluster.


Thanks,
Tim

To be more clear: they are moving to separate networks that do not share VLAN capability. (Different ISPs, nothing in common except the internet in general)

 

Or am I missing something, like do the IAPs use some kind of Outbound  "web-based" VLAN through Arubanetworks.com, where they could still "see" each other?

 

I'm not familiar with the term Cluster as used with APs - perhaps I am thinking of making 2 separate clusters in that case?

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@cappalli wrote:
They both need to share a management VLAN if they're going to be part of the same cluster.


Thanks,
Tim

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No. If they do not share a L2 segment, they would be independent of each other. You can either manage the configurations individually or use a management platform like AirWave or Aruba Central.


Thanks,
Tim

Thanks - yes, the plan is to manage one of them "on-site"; the other will still be visible from the third building, where I work.

 

In the interim I still need to make two wifi networks that cannot be seen from each other. Can I do that with different management VLANs on each IAP? 

You would just create the wireless networks individually on each.


Thanks,
Tim

I know i will be able to do this once the IAPs move to separate ISPs, but in the mean time:

 

when I login to the web UI of either IAP using it's IP, I get redirected to the same IAP each time. When I create the new wifi network, it shows up at both IAPs - I can't figure out how to make each IAP have only its "own" network.  Building 1 needs to be "Open" with an SSID of "OPENWIFI", and building 2 needs to be WPA2 with an SSID of "BLDG2WIFI".

 

At the moment, as soon as I make the second network they both show up. Can I make the Virtual Controller for each IAP itself? (As I understand it, convert to "Standalone")

After staring at this, I decided to make the "offsite" IAP a standalone AP. That leaves the other IAP open as a virtual controller should we stand up any other APs onsite. Trying to manage these with separate VLANs for the time that they will co-exist on the same L2 segment just does not seem worth the headache.

 

Now for the painful part - the "wrong" AP is "offsite" - can I swap Virtual Controllers without having to bring them back and forth?

You can drop a configuration backup in.

To respont to the initial question :

 

You can keep them for the time beeing in the same cluster and configure the SSID's and AP's using the Zone option:

http://www.arubanetworks.com/techdocs/Instant_41_Mobile/Advanced/Content/UG_files/CustomizeIAPParams/Conf_zone_settings.htm?SearchType=Stem&Highlight=zone|zones

 

Then when they become separate the settings would still work as long as the uplink has access to the new subnet/vlan that you are moving it to.

 

As I tried to say in the initial post, and clarified in the follow up - one AP is moving to a different ISP, so no it will not have access to the other subnet/VLAN. After converting the first AP to standalone, a simple solution presented itself: on the converted AP it had an option to convert back to Instant AP and also the "virtual controller" was still pointing to the second AP even though it did not actually pull or push configs from it. So after discovering how simple it was to convert the AP to/from Stand-alone, I just converted both of them to Stand alone and configured them the way I needed them. If I ever need to add a third AP in there somewhere, I can convert the AP on the same subnet back to an Instant.

 

And until we do switch the one AP to a separate ISP, I can still manage each AP through it's web GUI, so problem solved.