SonicOS 7.0 Access Points
Table of Contents
Virtual Access Points
Virtual access points are supported when using wireless access points along with SonicWall SonicPoint appliances.
A Virtual Access Point (VAP) is a multiplexed representation of a single physical access point—it presents itself as multiple discrete access points. To wireless LAN clients, each virtual access point appears to be an independent physical access point, when actually only one physical access point exists. VAPs allow you to control wireless user access and security settings by setting up multiple custom configurations on a single physical interface. Each of these custom configurations acts as a separate (virtual) access point and can be grouped and enforced on a single internal wireless radio.
The SonicWall VAP feature is in compliance with the IEEE 802.11 standard for the media access control (MAC) protocol layer that includes a unique Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID) and Service Set Identified (SSID). This segments the wireless network services within a single radio frequency footprint on a single physical access point.
VAPs allow you to control wireless user access and security settings by setting up multiple custom configurations on a single physical interface. Each of these custom configurations acts as a separate (virtual) access point, and can be grouped and enforced on single or multiple physical access points simultaneously.
Virtual Access Point Configuration
VAPs afford the following benefits
- Each VAP can have its own security services settings (for example, GAV, IPS, CFS, and so on).
- Traffic from each VAP can be easily controlled using access rules configured from the zone level.
- Separate Guest Services or Lightweight Hotspot Messaging (LHM) configurations can be applied to each, facilitating the presentation of multiple guest service providers with a common set of access points.
- Bandwidth management and other access rule-based controls can easily be applied.