Chapter 19: Understanding

Wireless Roam and Location

Services
Instructor Materials

CCNP Enterprise: Core Networking

Chapter 19 Content

This chapter covers the following content:

• Roaming Overview - This section discusses client mobility from the AP
and controller perspectives.
• Roaming Between Centralized Controllers - This section explains the
mechanisms that allow wireless devices to roam from one AP/controller
pair onto another.
• Locating Devices in a Wireless Network - This section explains how
the components of a wireless network can be used to compute the
physical location of wireless devices.

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Roaming Overview
• To understand how wireless roaming works, start with simple scenarios such as
roaming between access points when no controller is present and when only one
controller is present.

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Roaming Overview
Before Roaming Between Autonomous APs
A wireless client must associate
and authenticate with an AP
before it can use the AP’s BSS to
access the network. A client can
also move from one BSS to
another by roaming between APs.
The client actively scans channels
and sends probe requests to
discover candidate APs, and then
the client selects one and tries to
reassociate with it.

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Roaming Overview
After Roaming Between Autonomous APs
The client begins to move into AP
2’s cell. Somewhere near the cell
boundary, the client decides that
the signal from AP 1 has
degraded and it should look
elsewhere for a stronger signal.
The client decides to roam and
reassociate with AP 2.

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Roaming Overview
Successive Roams of a Mobile Client
When a wireless client begins to
move, it might move along an
arbitrary path. Each time the
client decides that the signal from
one AP has degraded enough, it
attempts to roam to a new, better
signal belonging to a different AP
and cell. The exact location of
each roam depends on the
client’s roaming algorithm. To
illustrate typical roaming activity,
each roam in Figure 19-3 is
marked with a dark ring.

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Roaming Overview
Intracontroller Roaming
In a Cisco wireless network,
lightweight APs are bound to a
wireless LAN controller through
CAPWAP tunnels. The controller
handles the roaming process,
rather than the APs, because of
the split-MAC architecture.
If both APs involved in a client
roam are bound to the same
controller, the controller has to
update its client association table
so that it knows which CAPWAP
tunnel to use to reach the client.

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Roaming Overview
Intracontroller Roaming (Cont.)
Efficient roaming is especially important when time-critical applications are being
used over the wireless network.
When a roam occurs, there could be a brief time when the client is not fully
associated with either AP. So long as that time is held to a minimum, the end user
probably will not even notice that the roam occurred.

Along with the client reassociation, a couple other processes can occur:
• DHCP - The client may be programmed to renew the DHCP lease on its IP
address or to request a new address.
• Client authentication - The controller might be configured to use an 802.1x
method to authenticate each client on a WLAN.

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Roaming Overview
Cryptographic Key Exchange Techniques
The client authentication process presents a challenge because the dialog between a
controller and a RADIUS server, in addition to the cryptographic keys that need to be
generated and exchanged, can take a considerable time to accomplish.
Cisco controllers offer three techniques to help streamline this process:
• Cisco Centralized Key Management (CCKM) - One controller maintains a database
of clients and keys on behalf of its APs and provides them to other controllers and
their APs as needed during client roams. CCKM requires Cisco Compatible
Extensions (CCX) support from clients.
• Key caching - Each client maintains a list of keys used with prior AP associations
and presents them as it roams. The destination AP must be present in this list, which
is limited to eight AP/key entries.
• 802.11r - This 802.11 amendment addresses fast roaming or fast BSS transition; a
client can cache a portion of the authentication server’s key and present that to future
APs as it roams. The client can also maintain its QoS parameters as it roams.
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Roaming Between
Centralized Controllers
• When two or more controllers support the APs in an enterprise, the APs can be
distributed across them. As always, when clients become mobile, they roam from one
AP to another—except they could also be roaming from one controller to another,
depending on how neighboring APs are assigned to the controllers. As a network
grows, AP roaming can scale too by organizing controllers into mobility groups.

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Roaming Between Centralized Controllers
Before an Intercontroller Roam
When a client roams from one AP
to another and those APs lie on
two different controllers, the client
makes an intercontroller roam.
Figure 19-6 shows a simple
scenario prior to a roam.
Controller WLC 1 has one
association in its database—that
of Client 1 on AP 1.

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Roaming Between Centralized Controllers
After an Intercontroller Roam
When the client roams to a different
AP, it can try to continue using its
existing IP address or work with a
DHCP server to either renew or
request an address.
Figure 19-7 shows the client roaming
to AP 2, where WLAN Staff is also
bound to the same VLAN 100 and
192.168.100.0/24 subnet. Because
the client has roamed between APs
but stayed on the same VLAN and
subnet, it has made a Layer 2
intercontroller roam.

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Roaming Between Centralized Controllers
Before a Layer 3 Intercontroller Roam
When a client initiates an
intercontroller roam, the two
controllers involved can compare
the VLAN numbers that are
assigned to their respective
WLAN interfaces. If the two VLAN
IDs differ, the controllers arrange
a Layer 3 roam that will allow the
client to keep using its IP
address.
Figure 19-8 illustrates a simple
wireless network containing two
APs and two controllers.

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Roaming Between Centralized Controllers
After a Layer 3 Intercontroller Roam
A Layer 3 intercontroller roam
consists of an extra tunnel that is built
between the client’s original controller
and the controller it has roamed to.
The tunnel carries data to and from
the client as if it is still associated with
the original controller and IP subnet.
Figure 19-9 shows the results of a
Layer 3 roam.
The original controller (WLC 1) is
called the anchor controller, and the
controller with the roamed client is
called the foreign controller.

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Roaming Between Centralized Controllers
Scaling Mobility with Mobility Groups
Cisco controllers can be organized into mobility groups to facilitate intercontroller
roaming.

If two centralized controllers are configured to belong to the same mobility group,
clients can roam quickly between them.

If two controllers are assigned to different mobility groups, clients can still roam
between them, but the roam is not very efficient. Credentials are not cached and
shared, so clients must go through a full authentication during the roam.

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Roaming Between Centralized Controllers
Mobility Group Hierarchy
Mobility groups have an implied
hierarchy, as shown in Figure 19-10.
Each controller maintains a mobility
list that contains its own MAC
address and the MAC addresses of
other controllers. Each controller in
the list is also assigned a mobility
group name.
The mobility list gives a controller its
view of the outside world; it knows
of and trusts only the other
controllers configured in the list.

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Locating Devices in a
Wireless Network
• Wireless networks are usually designed to provide coverage and connectivity in all
areas where client devices are expected to be located. For example, a hospital
building will likely have seamless wireless coverage on all floors and in all areas where
users might go. Locating a user or device is important in several use cases, and a
wireless network can be leveraged to provide that information.

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Locating Devices in a Wireless Network
Locating a Wireless Device with One AP or Three APs
A client’s distance from an AP can
be computed from its RSS. If the
distance is measured from a single
AP only, it is difficult to determine
where the client is situated in
relation to the AP. Obtain the same
measurement from three or more
APs, then correlate the results and
determine where they intersect.
Figure 19-11 illustrates the
difference in determining a client’s
location with a single and multiple
APs.

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Locating Devices in a Wireless Network
Real Time Location Data for Tracked Devices
The most intuitive way to interpret
location data is to view devices on a
map that represents the building and
floor where they are located.
Figure 19-12 shows an example map
of one floor of a building from Cisco
DNA Spaces. The square icons
represent AP locations, which were
manually entered on the map. One
device has been selected in the figure
causing lines to be drawn to some of
the APs that overheard the device.

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Locating Devices in a Wireless Network
Real Time Location for Other Tracked Devices
The same real-time location service also supports wireless devices that might never
actually associate with an AP. For example, you might be interested in locating or
tracking a potential customer’s smartphone as he walks through a store. As long as Wi-
Fi is enabled on the device, it will probably probe for available APs.

RFID tags are another type of device that can be attached to objects so that they can
be tracked and located. Some RFID tags can actively join a wireless network to
exchange data, while others are meant to simply “wake up” periodically to send 802.11
Probe Requests or multicast frames to announce their presence.

Another interesting use case is locating rogue devices and sources of Wi-Fi
interference. Rogue devices will likely probe the network and can be discovered and
located. Interference sources, such as cordless phones, wireless video cameras, and
other transmitters, might not be compatible with the 802.11 standard at all.

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Prepare for the Exam

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Prepare for the Exam
Key Topics for Chapter 19
Description
After Roaming Between Autonomous APs
Cisco Wireless Network After an Intracontroller
Roam
After an Intercontroller Roam
After a Layer 3 Intercontroller Roam
Mobility Group Hierarchy
Locating a Wireless Device with One AP (left)
and Three APs (right)
An Example Map Showing Real Time Location
Data for Tracked Devices

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Prepare for the Exam
Key Terms for Chapter 19

Key Terms
Author controller Mobility controller (MC)
Foreign controller Mobility domain
Intercontroller roaming Mobility group
Intracontroller roaming Point of attachment (PoA)
Layer 2 roam Point of presence (PoP)
Layer 3 roam Received signal strength (RSS)
Mobility agent (MA) RF fingerprinting

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