GigaNews gives IT pros cutting edge insight into the rapidly changing products and practices needed to succeed in the dynamic wireless LAN marketplace.

December 2005

In This Issue:
>> Redeem Cisco Learning Credits with GigaWave
>> Cisco Remains Leader Among WLAN Vendors
>> Cisco White Paper -- Determining Total Cost of
Ownership on your WLAN
>> Questions to Ask Before Handing Over Training Dollars
>> Tech Tip -- New Functionality in Cisco AP OIS
version 12.0(7)JA1

>> Training Corner

Redeem your Cisco Learning Credits with GigaWave Today!
Cisco learning credits are a form of pre-paid training. Learning credits may be added to your purchase order when buying Cisco products from a Cisco distributor or purchased separately. The credits offer you the ability to purchase training needed to make the most of your Cisco Unified Network.

For more information on Cisco Learning Credits, click here.

>> Industry News

Cisco Remains Big Leader Among WLAN Vendors.
“Cisco leads all other vendors comfortably, according to a recent study by Forrester Research. In a close examination of the top seven WLAN system vendors, Cisco was the clear victor, said Forrester's Ellen Daley. "Cisco is above everyone," she said. "They're the one to catch, but they're going to be hard to catch."

To read the full article, click here.

Cisco White Paper – Determine Total Cost of Ownership.
When considering small WLAN deployment, think large. To avoid heading down a costly and difficult path, an organization needs to plan for the future.

The best way to control costs and manage bandwidth is to take advantage of the existing wired infrastructure not only as the backbone for wireless LANs, but also as the provider of critical services for wireless LAN security, quality of service (QoS), and management. When estimating TCO, an organization should keep in mind that equipment purchase price is a small percentage of total cost. When considering a WLAN deployment you should consider 5 very important elements:

• Cost of the access points
• Access point planning and deployment costs
• Costs of the infrastructure switches for connecting access points together and into the wired infrastructure
• Network management costs
• Costs of connecting access points into the wiring closet

To download Cisco White Paper, click here..

Questions to ask before spending your training dollars
Are you spending training dollars wisely? With all the options for training, how do you determine which training company is the best one for you? A leading expert on instructor led-training recently developed a list of questions to ask potential training providers concerning the quality of instructors and courseware before spending your training dollars.

1. Who are the instructors?
2. Where does the courseware come from?
3. Does the company train for certification or competency?
4. What sizes are the classes?
5. How much hands-on practice will students receive?
6. How can I control cost while maintaining convenience?

To read recommendations on the quality of responses from training providers
Part one click here
Part two click here

Tech Tip >> New Functionality in Cisco AP IOS Version 12.3(7)JA1
With the release of IOS version 12.3(7)JA1, there are several new features as described in the Release Notes for Cisco Aironet Access Points for Cisco IOS Release 12.3(7)JA1 as shown below.

"AAA Cache and Profile"
AAA cache and profile is a new capability to cache the information returned from the RADIUS or TACACS+ server, a more efficient handling of the administrative authentication process.

"SSH v2 Server Support"
SSH v2 server support is a standards-based protocol to provide secure Telnet capability for router configuration and administration.

"NAC-L2 IEEE 802.1x Support"
Network Admission Control (NAC) L2 IEEE 802.1x extends NAC support to layer 2 switches and wireless access points. Combining it with 802.1x provides a unified authentication and posture validation mechanism at the layer 2 network edge. This helps protect the network from attack by machines with insufficient antivirus posture. Performing posture validation at the edge maximizes the portion of the network which is protected and allows posture validation to be performed with a VLAN.

If the access point is configured to support EAP authentication of clients and VLAN override is enabled as part of NAC on the RADIUS server, no additional configuration of the access point is required to support NAC.

"Access Point Link Role Flexibility"
In addition to these, there is "Link Role Flexibility." - The ability to turn on bridging functions on Cisco Autonomous APs. Access point link role flexibility allows an access point to operate in a combination of radio roles, such as access point root, access point repeater, bridge root (with or without clients), bridge non-root (with or without clients), and workgroup bridge. This feature provides a more flexible deployment scheme for the Cisco Aironet 1200 Series Access Point supporting various applications requirement.

System engineers can now, on a 1200, 1230 and 1240 series AP, turn on bridging on one radio interface. For example, the 1230 AP can be setup at one building to provide 802.11g Root AP access and an 802.11a bridge link to another 1240 AP in another building. This link then provides both 802.11g Root AP and wired access back to the root side network. This greatly increases the flexibility of deploying Cisco Autonomous APs. The additional functionality is found under the setup tab of the individual radio interfaces. There are now 10 possible "Roles In The Radio Network."

Note -- there are a few limitations. For example, these options do not support concatenation, which is needed to associate to a BR1410. However, these limitations are small when compared to the wealth of possibilities these new features offer. Enjoy!