WEBVTT

0:00:03.320000 --> 0:00:06.720000
 Hello and welcome to this video, which
 I'm going to do a refresher on

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 the types of wireless LAN controllers
 you might come across.

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 And you need to know the
 terms of what these are.

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 So we're going to talk about the categories
 of wireless LAN controllers.

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 I'm going to spend just a little tiny
 bit of time giving a brief overview

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 of embedded wireless and
 Cisco Mobility Express.

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 So, wireless LAN controllers come in
 various form factors and shapes and

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 sizes. We've already talked about physical
 controllers and cloud controllers.

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 We've talked about the differences
 of what those are.

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 So what I really want to focus in on
 right now in just a few minutes are

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 the differences between embedded
 wireless and mobility express.

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 So embedded wireless just simply means
 that you're taking the same software

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 that would normally come in a wireless
 controller appliance, a physical

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 box that was purpose built to be a
 controller, you're taking that same

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 software functionality and putting
 it in something else like a router

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 or a switch. So a lot of times
 these come in a switch.

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 So for example, you can buy the Cisco
 9800 wireless LAN controller as

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 either standalone appliance or embedded
 within the Cisco Catalyst 9300

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 switch. We talked about earlier about
 some of the distinguishing differences

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 between wireless LAN controllers.

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 And I said not only are they physically
 different like cloud based versus

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 physical appliance, but I mentioned how
 some controllers can control more

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 or less access points and the clients
 behind those access points.

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 So the physical appliances, the physical
 wireless LAN controllers that

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 were purpose built for that purpose,
 they are the ones that you will buy

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 if you want to control the most amount
 of clients and access points.

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 When you take that same functionality
 and you embed it in a switch or

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 possibly a router, you're not going to
 have as many devices you can control.

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 Although you can see here, even this
 one can support up to 200 access

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 points and 4000 clients.

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 That's probably going to be enough for
 most situations unless you're talking

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 about something like a large coliseum
 or something that has hundreds and

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 hundreds of access points with very
 tight radio frequencies, but this

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 would support most things.

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 So when you think of embedded wireless,
 you should be thinking the controller

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 functionality is embedded in something
 that normally would not be a controller

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 like a router or a switch.

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 The other type of term I want you to
 hear that relates to controllers

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 is something called Cisco
 Mobility Express.

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 This basically means that you have
 an access point that's serving two

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 roles. It is serving as an access point
 and that same access point, that

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 same box is serving as a controller
 for other access points.

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 That's what Mobility
 Express means.

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 So it allows one access point to serve
 as the controller for up to 100

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 other lightweight access points.

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 Now, when you do this, you're going
 to be very limited in your features

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 and your functionality, but you still
 get the basic functionality of a

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 controller in this way.

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 As a lot of times, as an example, some
 lightweight access points I've

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 seen that Cisco sells, the way they
 operate by default is when you turn

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 them on, they will try to reach out and
 discover a real wireless LAN controller.

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 They'll try to do that.

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 But if a certain amount of time expires
 and they haven't discovered a

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 wireless LAN controller they will fall
 back into this mode where they

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 are basically operating as Mobility
 Express access points.

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 And of course, the AP that's doing this
 can also service its own clients

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 as well. And typically requires a special
 software image to do this functionality.

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 So that's it. Real brief
 overview there.

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 So I just want to make sure that you
 were aware at a high level of the

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 different types of controllers
 and where they are implemented.

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 Thank you for watching this video.