© 2012 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This document is Cisco Public Information.
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Software Licensing Flexibility
Base access point licensing offers flexibility to add up to 500 additional access points as business needs grow. The
licensing structure supports a variety of business mobility needs as part of the basic feature set, including the Cisco
OfficeExtend solution for secure, mobile teleworking and Cisco Enterprise Wireless Mesh, which allows access
points to dynamically establish wireless connections in locations where it may be difficult or impossible to physically
connect to the wired network.
Table 1 lists the features of the Cisco 5500 Series
Wireless LAN Controllers
.
Table 1.
Cisco 5500 Series Wireless LAN Controller Features
Feature
Benefits
Scalability
● Supports 12, 25, 50,100, 250, or 500 access points for business-critical wireless services at locations of
all sizes
High Performance
● Wired speed, nonblocking performance for 802.11n networks
RF Management
● Provides both real-time and historical information about RF interference impacting network performance
across controllers, via systemwide Cisco CleanAir technology integration
OfficeExtend
● Supports corporate wireless service for mobile and remote workers with secure wired tunnels to the
Cisco Aironet
®
1130 or 1140 Series Access Points
● Extends the corporate network to remote locations with minimal setup and maintenance requirements
(zero-touch deployment)
● Improves productivity and collaboration at remote site locations
● Separate SSID tunnels allow both corporate and personal Internet access
● Reduced CO2 emissions from decrease in commuting
● Higher employee job satisfaction from ability to work at home
● Improves business resiliency by providing continuous, secure connectivity in the event of disasters,
pandemics, or inclement weather
Comprehensive End-to-End
Security
● Offers Control and Provisioning of Wireless Access Points (CAPWAP) compliant DTLS encryption to
ensure full-line-rate encryption between access points and controllers across remote WAN/LAN links
Enterprise Wireless Mesh
● Allows access points to dynamically establish wireless connections without the need for a physical
connection to the wired network
● Available on select Cisco Aironet access points, Enterprise Wireless Mesh is ideal for warehouses,
manufacturing floors, shopping centers and any other location where extending a wired connection may
prove difficult or aesthetically unappealing
High Performance Video
● Integrates Cisco VideoStream technology as part of the medianet framework to optimize the delivery of
video applications across the WLAN
End-to-end Voice
● Supports
Unified Communications
for improved collaboration through messaging, presence, and
conferencing
● Supports all
Cisco Unified Communications Wireless IP Phones
for cost-effective, real-time voice
services
High Availability
● An optional redundant power supply that helps to ensure maximum availability
Environmentally Responsible
● Organizations may choose to turn off access point radios to reduce power consumption during off peak
hours
Mobility, security and
management for IPv6 & dual-
stack clients
● Secure, reliable wireless connectivity and consistent end-user experience
● Increased network availability through proactive blocking of known threats
● Equips administrators for IPv6 troubleshooting, planning, and client traceability from a common wired
and wireless management system
