Avaya Meru MC500, Meru JMC1000, Meru MC3000 Configuration Manual

Configuration Guide

Field Verified

Meru Networks WLAN Controllers with
AP100, AP201, AP208
Configuration and Deployment Guide

This document details the specifications for configuring the Meru Networks WLAN controllers
and access points (APs).

Product Summary

Manufacturer:

RF technology: Direct-sequence spread spectrum (DS)

Radio: 2.4 – 2.484 GHz

Antenna Diversity: Rx Diversity

Security : WEP, WPA-PSK

AP software version: 3.1.1-24†

Handset models 3616/3620/3626 3641/3645

Radio mode 802.11b 802.11b

Maximum telephone calls per AP: 8* 8*

Auto-learn function: Yes No

Recommended network topology: Switched Ethernet (required)

† Earlier and later software versions have not been tested for the Avaya™ Voice Priority Processor compliance. Refer
to Wireless IP Telephone WLAN Compatibility List for field verified AP software versions.

* Telephone calls per AP must be configured in the system per documentation provided by Avaya. Maximum 4 calls
(when additional handsets are in a push-to-talk session)

Meru Networks: www.merunetworks.com

WLAN Controllers Access Points Approved product(s):

MC500

MC1000

MC3000

AP100

AP201

AP208

Known Limitations

Virtual Cell mode is incompatible with wireless IP telephone deployment. Please see the
Virtual Cell information as detailed below in Deployment Guidelines.

Notes on Configuration

The AP must support SpectraLink Voice Priority (SVP). Contact your AP vendor

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© Copyright 2007 Avaya, Inc. All rights reserved
21-601644, Issue 1, May 2007 Page 1

if you need to upgrade the AP software.

Meru Networks WLAN Controllers with AP100, AP201, AP208 Configuration Guide

Field Verified

If you encounter difficulties or have questions regarding the configuration process, please
contact Avaya Technical Support at 1 800 242-2121 (USA only) or your local authorized
Avaya dealer.

Deployment Scenarios

Wireless IP telephones can be deployed in a Meru Networks WLAN system where the access
points are deployed within a subnet or across multiple layer 2 subnets.

The following figure shows the components in a typical deployment network with the Meru
Networks WLAN and wireless IP telephone system.

When deploying the system you should determine which types of devices will require access
and the mechanism of authentication/encryption that they support. This will drive the
configuration of the system to support different user groups and security methods.

Recommendations

• For a typical healthcare deployment, we recommend configuring one ESSID for the

wireless IP telephones on a voice VLAN. In order to support the SVP Call Admission
Control feature, this should be a non-Virtual Cell mode.

• For hospital staff tablets and laptop PC’s, configure an additional ESSID utilizing strong

authentication/encryption such as WPA, interfacing with a RADIUS server. This traffic
should be separated onto a secure VLAN.

• If guest access is desired, configure an additional ESSID utilizing Captive Portal for web-

based authentication. This traffic should be placed on a VLAN which terminates outside
the hospital infrastructure firewall.

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Meru Networks WLAN Controllers with AP100, AP201, AP208 Configuration Guide

Field Verified

Deployment Guidelines

Virtual Cell

Meru Virtual Cell technology allows for zero-handoff as the wireless IP telephones roam
through the wireless environment. This dramatically improves the quality and consistency of
client roam times. The bi-directional quality of service (QoS) provides a near toll-quality call
experience regardless of the handsets’ security context.

The Virtual Cell configuration does not provide a good configuration setting for dense wireless
IP telephone deployment. This is because both Meru Networks and the wireless IP telephone
system provide their own QoS schemes and are not centrally managed. For wireless IP
telephones, the tolerance for packet retries is very low. Wireless handsets operate on a very
tight delivery schedule and will often channel-scan elsewhere if those delivery expectations are
not met.

To maintain the benefits of Virtual Cell just mentioned and to maximize calls, we recommend
using Virtual Cell zones. A Virtual Cell zone is a zone area on a single channel containing one
or more access points. The diagrams below provide further illustration of Virtual Cell zones.
Depending on how many calls you expect to utilize per zone, the deployment may consist of
one Virtual Cell zone (one channel deployment) or multiple virtual zones (multiple non­interfering channels 1,6,11) with each channel being a zone having one or more Virtual Cell
access points.

Avaya recommends that no more than eight concurrent calls should exist in a zone, and that
the Avaya Voice Priority Processor should be set to eight calls per access point

Virtual AP Zone with
1 to many APs
CAC at 8 calls per
zone

Single floor horizontal layout, non-interfering channels with overlap coverage

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