D-Link DWL-8500AP - Access Point

Description

The D-Link® Unified Wired/Wireless Switching solution provides an innovative evolution in wireless LAN. Complex installations, intricate management utilities and limited scalability had previously made network administrators hesitant to deploy facility-wide wireless LAN. Now, D-Link Unified Wired/Wireless Switching architecture simplifies installation. In addition, access security, wireless throughput and network convergence is significantly enhanced. Benefactors of this Wi-Fi® innovation include IT integrators, network administrators, business end-users, government organizations, schools, hospitals, and hotspots such as convention halls, hotels and airports.

Dual Band Wireless Access Point
The DWL-8500AP operates on simultaneous dual 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands. This system provides automatic adjustment of 802.11a/b/g RF channels, multiple SSID for each frequency band, and optimal transmit power to provide mobile users with high quality, secure wireless signals.

Uninterrupted Wireless Connectivity
The system maintains a centralized database of wireless user’s access information such as their MAC addresses and authentication keys. As wireless users roam around the office using wireless equipment, they may change their connection from AP to AP. By constantly monitoring the AP status, the switch can establish AP-to-AP roaming for these users without requiring them to re-establish authentication keys. This fast roaming process results in disruption-free, reliable wireless connectivity crucial for mobile applications such as Wi-Fi® IP phone and wireless PDA connection. In addition to updating information of APs managed by the same switch, the system also supports AP information updates across multiple peer switches. As a wireless user moves from one AP affiliated to a switch to another AP connected to another switch, inter-switch roaming is instantly performed across the peer switches to produce a smooth, fast wireless connection in a multi-departmental enterprise environment.

Unified AP
The DWL-8500AP can be configured either as managed or standalone APs. In managed mode, the switch automatically discovers and centrally manages the APs. Furthermore, all the configuration files and security settings are pushed to the APs, significantly reducing IT overhead as the WLAN network scales up. With WLAN, users have the mobility to move around the network; therefore the authentication and user tracking are executed on the Unified Switch with a consolidated and secure wireless system. They can also act as standalone APs depending on the application or network condition.

Captive Portal
Apart from the wireless encryption standards, the Unified Switch offers an additional level of security called “Captive Portal”. Captive Portal is a web-based authentication process in which the wireless clients request for access through the web browser. The AP or switch port captures HTTP/HTTPS traffic and then re-directs the client to an authentication portal. Once the username and password of the client has been authenticated by either the switch or the RADIUS server, access is granted. Captive Portal is SSID-based and supports fast roaming, making it an ideal security solution.

Automatic Channel and Power Adjustment
Normally, when adding APs to the network, system administrators select the unoccupied or least used RF channels to avoid interference with other AP and RF devices. They also set transmitter output power at a level, strong enough for RF signals to reach wireless clients, but weak enough to minimize interference with other devices’ RF signals. To simplify this process and optimize RF usage, the switch automatically adjusts the RF channels and transmitter output power of the entire system every time an AP is added to or removed from the network. This automatic adjustment can be programmed to take effect at a certain time or at specified intervals, minimizing the need for network administrator to manually intervene.

Specifications