Legacy Autonomous (Fat / Thick) Access Point Replacement

Many early adopters of wireless LANs purchased autonomous access points that provided stand-alone service, but had to be individually managed. In some cases a single autonomous access point was deployed per location, while in other instances, several were scattered around meeting and conference rooms or across a campus.

Aruba offers many economical and scalable solutions to replace these aging devices. Sites with only a few autonomous access points can replace them using Remote Access Point software. This software provides enterprise connectivity and follow-me security by enabling role-based user access controls, stateful firewall and split-tunneling on any Aruba access point into which it is loaded. The policies enforced by the Remote Access Point firewall mirror those enforced by the corporate Aruba Mobility Controller. If multiple users connect to an access point equipped with Remote Access Point software, each user will be managed separately, consistent with policies established at the corporate office.

Aruba Offers a Suite of Solutions To Replace Autonomous Access Points

The Remote Access Point can leverage IT infrastructure that's already in place for autonomous access points, greatly simplifying the transition. Traffic is directly forwarded into the LAN, so no wiring closet changes are required. IP addresses and VLANs can be maintained as is. Should the network grow over time, the Remote Access Points can be loaded with standard access point or Secure Enterprise Mesh software.

Deployments with a large number of autonomous access points can be replaced with a local Mobility Controller and access points. This architecture offers centralized network and policy management, fast handoff roaming, voice QoS, automatic load balancing, application awareness, and automatic RF management. Aruba's Secure Enterprise Mesh, high performance 802.11n connectivity, and redundancy options can be incorporated, as needed, either at the time of initial installation or as operational requirements dictate.