Network Security - Extreme Networks Summit WM20 User Manual

Overview of the Summit WM Controller, Access Points and Software Solution
Figure 3: Traffic Flow Diagram
Packet Transmission
Control and Routing
• WM Authenticates wireless
user
Tunneling
• AP sends data traffic to WM
through UDP tunnel called
CTP
• Using WASSP tunnels, WM
allows wireless clients to
roam to Wireless APs on
different WMs
802.11 Packet Transmission
• 802.11 beacon and probe,
wireless device associates
with a Wireless AP by its
SSID
Each wireless device sends IP packets in the 802.11 standard to the Wireless AP. The Wireless AP uses a
UDP (User Datagram Protocol) based tunnelling protocol to encapsulate the packets and forward them
to the Summit WM Controller. In a typical configuration, access points can be configured to locally
bridge traffic (to a configured VLAN) directly at their network point of attachment. The Summit WM
Controller decapsulates the packets and routes these to destinations on the network.
The Summit WM Controller functions like a standard router, except that it is configured to route only
network traffic associated with wireless connected users. The Summit WM Controller can also be
configured to simply forward traffic to a default or static route if dynamic routing is not preferred.

Network Security

The Summit WM Controller, Access Points and Software system provides features and functionality to
control network access. These are based on standard wireless network security practices.
Current wireless network security methods provide protection. These methods include:
Shared Key authentication that relies on Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) keys
●
Open System that relies on Service Set Identifiers (SSIDs)
●
802.1x that is compliant with Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA)
●
Captive Portal based on Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol
●
26
RADIUS
DHCP
Server
Server
Summit WM
Controller
Wireless AP
Wireless Device
External External Web
CP Server Authentication
Server
Router
Wireless AP
Wireless Device
Summit WM20 User Guide, Software Release 4.2