INTEROPERABILITY REPORT
Alcatel-Lucent OT8118/8128
Meru Networks AP320, 332, 822, 832 and AP1000 series
System manager version 6.1-3-5
Alcatel-Lucent OT81x8 version 5.1.30
8AL90481USAB Ed.01
December 2014
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TABLE OF CONTENT:
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 3
About Alcatel-Lucent................................................................................................................. 3
About Meru Networks ............................................................................................................... 3
SITE INFORMATION .................................................................................................................... 4
SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................... 5
Known issues and limitations.................................................................................................... 6
Compatibility information .......................................................................................................... 6
General Conclusions ................................................................................................................ 6
Alcatel-Lucent WLAN Infrastructure Verification – VoWiFi ....................................................... 7
General settings .................................................................................................................... 8
Security settings .................................................................................................................... 9
ESS, Radio and QoS settings ............................................................................................. 12
Alcatel-Lucent OT81x8 ........................................................................................................... 17
APPENDIX B: DETAILED TEST RECORDS .............................................................................. 19
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INTRODUCTION
This document describes necessary steps and guidelines to optimally configure the Meru Networks
WLAN platform with Alcatel-Lucent OT81x8 WLAN handsets.
The guide should be used in conjunction with both Meru Networks and Alcatel-Lucent configuration
guide(s).
About Alcatel-Lucent
The Alcatel-Lucent OmniTouch 8118/8128 WLAN handsets offer a sleeker design, high-resolution color
TFT display (OT8128), IP44 compliant construction, and longer battery time. OT 8118/8128 handsets
can be managed over-the-air (OTA) and are designed to interoperate within a Wi-Fi network. With the
OT 8118/8128 WLAN handsets, users get a mobile device for voice conversations, text messaging and
alarms from Alcatel-Lucent Call Servers and third party Alarm servers.
About Meru Networks
Founded in 2002, Meru Networks provides a virtualized wireless LAN solution that cost-effectively
optimizes the enterprise network to deliver the performance, reliability, predictability and operational
simplicity of a wired network, with the advantages of mobility. Meru's solution represents an innovative
approach to wireless networking that utilizes virtualization technology to create an intelligent and self-
monitoring wireless network, and enables enterprises to migrate their business-critical applications from
wired networks to wireless networks, and become all-wireless enterprises. Meru's solutions have been
adopted in all major industry vertical markets, including Fortune 500 enterprises, healthcare, education,
retail, manufacturing, hospitality and government. Meru is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., and has
operations in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. For more information, visit
www.merunetworks.com or call (408) 215-5300.
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SITE INFORMATION
Test Site:
Morrisville
300 Perimeter park drive, NC 27560
USA
Participants:
Karl-Magnus Olsson, Ascom HQ
TEST TOPOLOGY
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SUMMARY
Please refer to Appendix B for detailed results.
WLAN Controller Features
High Level Functionality Result
Association, Open with No Encryption OK
Association, WPA-PSK, TKIP OK
Association, WPA2-PSK, TKIP / AES Encryption OK
Association, PEAP-MSCHAPv2 Auth., TKIP Encryption Not tested
Association, PEAP-MSCHAPv2 Auth., AES Encryption OK
Association, Multiple ESSIDs OK
Beacon Interval and DTIM Period OK
PMKSA Caching Roam transparent to handset*
WPA2-opportunistic/proactive Key Caching Roam transparent to handset*
WMM Prioritization OK
Active Mode (load test) OK
802.11 Power-save mode OK
802.11 Power-save mode (load test) OK
802.11e U-APSD OK
802.11e U-APSD (load test) OK
*) Not applicable due to the Meru system architecture (Virtual Cell).
Roaming
High Level Functionality Result
Roaming, Open with No Encryption OK*
Roaming, WPA-PSK, TKIP Encryption OK*
Roaming, WPA2-PSK, AES Encryption OK*
Roaming, PEAP-MSCHAPv2 Auth, AES Encryption OK*
* ) Roaming is transparent to the handset. Therefore no roaming times presented.
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Known issues and limitations
- No known issues
For additional information regarding the known issues please contact Alcatel-Lucent support.
Compatibility information
All tests were performed on a MC1550 controller running version 6.1-3-5 but we guarantee
interoperability with all below listed controllers running software version 6.1-3-5. Analogously, all tests
were performed with AP320, AP332, AP832and AP1020 but variants of these access points stated below
are also supported.
Supported controllers.
MC1550
MC3200
MC4200
MC5000
MC6000
Compatible access points
AP 301/302/310/311/320
AP 332 (i/e variants)
AP 822 and AP832 (i/e variants)
AP1010/1014/1020 (i/e variants
General Conclusions
The result of the verified test areas, such as authentication, association, handover and call stability tests,
produced in general very good test result. Due to Meru’s single channel architecture, no traditional
roaming is made which makes the roaming seamless.
Note. Unless the parameter “Expedited Forwarding Override” is used the OT81x8 have to mark voice
packets with DSCP 48 in order for appropriate mapping in the “air” (Access Category 6).
Please refer to Meru’s documentation for information regarding co-existence and between different
access point models within the same wireless network.
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TEST RESULTS
Alcatel-Lucent WLAN Infrastructure Verification – VoWiFi
Software Versions:
Meru Networks MC3000 WLAN Controller, version 6.1-3-5
AP320/AP332/AP8x2/AP10xx Access Points
Alcatel-Lucent OT81x8, v 5.1.30
Configuration of WLAN System:
Beacon Interval: 100ms
DTIM Period: 5
Silent Client Polling enabled. (on by default)
802.11bgn
802.11an
WMM/ U-APSD Enabled (See appendix A for QoS profiles)
Virtual Cell (AP10xx, 332, 822 and 832)
Virtual Port (AP 320)
Alcatel-Lucent OT81x8 Configuration:
World Mode Regulatory Domain set to World mode.
IP DSCP for Voice: 0xC0 (48) – Class Selector 6
IP DSCP for Signaling: 0x68 (26) – Assured Forwarding 31
Roaming Methodology: System-aided roaming
Transmit Gratuitous ARP: Enable
Keep in mind that security options and power save modes were adjusted according to requirements in
individual test cases. Please refer to appendix A for information regarding device configuration.
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APPENDIX A: TEST CONFIGURATIONS
Meru Networks MC1550 WLAN Controller and AP320/332/8x2/10xx Access Points. Version
6.1-3-5
In the following chapter you will find screenshots and explanations of basic settings in order to get a Meru
WLAN system to operate with an Alcatel-Lucent OT81x8. Please note that security settings were modified
according to requirements in individual test cases.
The configuration file is found at the bottom of this chapter.
General settings
System overview
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Security settings
Security profile WPA2-PSK, AES/CCMP encryption.
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Security profile WPA2-Enterprise, AES-CCMP encryption Primary RADIUS Profile Name “FreeRadius”
refers to the RADIUS profile set up in the controller. See radius profile below for additional details.
Configuration of Radius profile.
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Radius profile configuration. Note that the profile “FreeRadius”, the RADIUS IP and the secret must
correspond to the authentication server running in the network.
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ESS, Radio and QoS settings
Alcatel-Lucent recommended settings for 802.11bgn are to only use channel 1, 6 or 11. For 802.11a/n/ac,
use channels according to the infrastructure manufacturer and country regulations.
Note that power level was adjusted for test purpose
General guidelines when deploying Alcatel-Lucent OT81x8 handsets (SW version 2.5.7 or later) in
802.11a/n/ac environments:
1. Enabling more than 8 channels will degrade roaming performance. Alcatel-Lucent strongly
recommends against going above this limit.
2. On the 5GHz band either 20 or 40Mhz channel width operation can be used. Using 40 MHz
channels (or “channel-bonding”) will reduce the number of non-DFS* channels to two in ETSI
regions (Europe). In FCC regions (North America), 40MHz is a more viable option because of the
availability of additional non-DFS channels. The handset can co-exist with 40MHz stations in the
same ESS.
3. Make sure that all non-DFS channel are taken before resorting to DFS channels. The handset
can cope in mixed non-DFS and DFS environments; however, due to “unpredictability” introduced
by radar detection protocols, voice quality may become distorted and roaming delayed. Hence
Alcatel-Lucent recommends avoiding the use of DFS channels in VoWIFI deployments.
*) Dynamic Frequency Selection (radar detection)
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ESS settings. Since multicast applications are usually not expected in WLANs, where Alcatel-Lucent
VoWIFI handsets are deployed, the “Allow Multicast Flag” should be set to “OFF”.
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ESS settings (continued).
Make sure APSD support is enabled. Utilizing U-APSD will dramatically improve the OT81x8 talk time.
Set DTIM Period of 5 and a DTIM interval of 100ms. These values are recommended in order to allow
maximum battery conservation without impacting the quality. Lower DTIM values are possible but will
decrease the standby time.
Note. Alcatel-Lucent and Meru recommend Virtual Cell for AP332/822/832/10xx. For AP320
Deployments use Virtual Port.
Note. Expedited Forwarding Override will map DSCP 46 (EF) to the AC_VO. If turned off, IP DSCP
for Voice has to be set to 0x30 (48) in the Phone. See OT81x8 settings further down.
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In a Meru environment, we recommended that the data rates are advertised within the ESS per above for
802.11a/n/ac (default).
In a Meru environment, it is recommended that the data rates are advertised within the ESS per above
(802.11b/g/n). To further optimize performance it is recommended to disallow 802.11b clients to associate
by setting 12Mbps rate to mandatory in the 802.11b/g/n data rate set.
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Select Voice Client Type - ascom
Configuration:
See attached file (merucfg.txt) for Meru MC1550 configuration.
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Alcatel-Lucent OT81x8
Alcatel-Lucent OT81x8 Network configurations (WPA2-PSK)
- Set IP DSCP for voice to 0x30 (48) – CS6 to match default mappings in the Meru system.
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Alcatel-Lucent OT81x8 network settings for 802.1X authentication (PEAP-MSCHAPv2)
- Set IP DSCP for voice to 0x30 (48) – CS6 to match default mappings in the Meru system.
If 802.1X Authentication is used a root certificate has to be uploaded to the phone by “right clicking” - >
Edit certificates.
Note that both a root and a client certificate are needed for TLS. Otherwise only a root certificate
is needed. Server certificate validation can be overridden in version 4.1.12 and above per handset
setting (Validate server certificate).
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APPENDIX B: DETAILED TEST RECORDS
AP832 were fully tested while AP320, 332 AP822 and AP1000 series were given a spot check including a
less extensive number of tests.
Pass 24
Fail 0
Comments 2
Untested 9
Total 35
See attached file “WLANinteroperabilityTestReport_832_822.xls” and
“WLANinteroperabilityTestReport_320_332_10xx.xls” for detailed test results.
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Document History
Rev Date Author Description
R1 2014-10-17 SEKMO Revision 1 Meru version 6.1-x
R1a 2014-10-17 SEKMO Minor corrections after review
R1b 2014-10-28 SEKMO Minor correction.
R2 2014-12-02 SEKMO Updated to version 6.1-3-5 and added AP822 and AP832
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