AirWorks AWK-3131A
Web Console Configuration
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Benefits of VLANs
VLANs are used to conveniently, efficiently, and easily manage your network in the following ways:
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Manage adds, moves, and changes from a single point of contact
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Define and monitor groups
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Reduce broadcast and multicast traffic to unnecessary destinations
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Improve network performance and reduce latency
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Increase security
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Secure network restricts members to resources on their own VLAN
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Clients roam without compromising security
VLAN Workgroups and Traffic Management
The AP assigns clients to a VLAN based on a Network Name (SSID). The AP can support up to 9 SSIDs per
radio interface, with a unique VLAN configurable per SSID.
The AP matches packets transmitted or received to a network name with the associated VLAN. Traffic
received by a VLAN is only sent on the wireless interface associated with that same VLAN. This eliminates
unnecessary traffic on the wireless LAN, conserving bandwidth and maximizing throughput.
In addition to enhancing wireless traffic management, the VLAN-capable AP supports easy assignment of
wireless users to workgroups. In a typical scenario, each user VLAN represents a department workgroup; for
example, one VLAN could be used for a marketing department and the other for a human resource
department.
In this scenario, the AP would assign every packet it accepted to a VLAN. Each packet would then be
identified as marketing or human resource, depending on which wireless client received it. The AP would
insert VLAN headers or “tags” with identifiers into the packets transmitted on the wired backbone to a
network switch.
Finally, the switch would be configured to route
packets from the marketing department to the
appropriate corporate resources such as printers
and servers. Packets from the human resource
department could be restricted to a gateway that
allowed access to only the Internet. A member of
the human resource department could send and
receive e-mail and access the Internet, but would
be prevented from accessing servers or hosts on the
local corporate network.
Configuring Virtual LAN
VLAN Settings
To configure the AWK’s VLAN, use the VLAN Setting page to configure the ports.