Forum

From a recent Fierce Wi-Fi email newsletter:

Joanie Wexler asks whether it is time to kill Cisco's fat AP, as "old style WiFi is going out of fashion." This is especially the case now, since if you use Cisco's thin AP, controller-based WLANs, you can apply wired Cisco security functions to your WiFi traffic.

So long as the SOHO market exists there will be a home for FAT APs. They will all be on channel 6 at full power using default settings too.

It's sort of tough to do an AP on a stick survey if the AP requires a controller...... for that simple reason alone I'd like to see an optional "fat" AP load made available.

Ves es das FAT AP?

Tom

Das Fat AP es an AP that also offers DHCP, NAT, Routing, RADIUS, etc. as apposed to a thin AP that is controlled via a switch and all of the network services offered are from servers on the LAN.

Perhaps not with those services, but when FMCA becomes more popular,
SOHO AP's will become "fatter" by default and contain the functionalities listed as well as those needed to do handoffs.

tom