200-355

What equipment do you need to pass this exam?

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In theory none, although it is a good idea to have some hands on with a Cisco Wireless LAN controller like the 2504 and a couple of access points. I think the topologies from the previous version lab manuals (current version lab manuals are not yet available) use at most one Wireless LAN controller, 2 access points, three switches and a router.

There might be cheaper options than the 2504, but I'm not up to speed enough with Wireless to recommend. With the 2504 and Access Points, it could be around $1500. Switches are router, you'd probably be fine with something relatively basic like an 1841 and a couple of 2960s or 3560s or even 2950s. I think the switches don't need much more than VLAN support, VTP, RSTP, dot1q trunking. The router is basically inter vlan routing (router on a stick) and DHCP.

The wireless lan controller is really the bit that is different from CCENT/CCNA R+S, so it's probably the bit you want to spend time on.

I think there's rack rentals available also for Wireless.

pearljam

Do you think 2100 would suffice for the wlan controller?

OctalDump

The current exam is based on Wireless LAN Controller Software version 8, so probably any WLC which runs 8 would be good enough. I think the 2106 only supports version 7. I've had a quick look at the other stand alone WLC with version 8, and the next cheapest above the 2504 is the 5508.

7 would be better than nothing. I'm not sure what the differences are between 7 and 8.

There is a virtualised option, since what the WLC is doing isn't dependent on any hardware. I'm not sure if that satisfies the exam requirements or not. Probably if the interface and feature set is the same, it would. That would just mean getting the APs.

theodoxa

There is also a Virtual Wireless LAN Controller which you can run in VMware ESXi.

Cisco Virtual Wireless Controller - Products & Services - Cisco
https://software.cisco.com/download/release.html?mdfid=284464214&softwareid=280926587&release=8.0.121.0&relind=AVAILABLE&rellifecycle=ED&reltype=latest

It should be noted that not all versions of vWLC are fully compatible with all versions of Cisco Prime Infrastructure. I ran into an issue where Prime wasn't managing my Lightweight APs. I had to install an older version of vWLC to make it work.

pearljam

How do those of us who don't have a cisco account get the virtual wireless controller?

OctalDump

pearljam wrote: »

How do those of us who don't have a cisco account get the virtual wireless controller?

You can sign up for a free Cisco account, which allows you to download a bunch of stuff. And I just checked, and it does include the VWLC linked above.

pearljam

Thanks Octal, I thought you had to be associated with cisco in order to have the account, glad I was wrong.

theodoxa

OctalDump wrote: »

You can sign up for a free Cisco account, which allows you to download a bunch of stuff. And I just checked, and it does include the VWLC linked above.

You can download the 60 day demo/trial version with only a free account. Look for the one with just a lock symbol (no paper behind it).

Lock -- Requires a Cisco Login. This can be a free account.
Paper Behind Lock -- Requires a Valid SmartNet Contract.

matttheswede

Hi

I have just spent the last few weeks using the Cisco vWLC (8.0 and 8.2) which i am running on VMWare workstation 12 player.
Just be sure to read the release notes as there are quite a number if known bugs and i would also recommend having a connection to the AP command line to verify that the changes that you want to apply has actually been applied as this does not always happen as you expect.

Another tip that caused me no end of grief is to turn "auto RF" off in the initial configuration if you are looking to manually choose channels, channel width etc.

All this obviously depends on the APs that you have to hand.

All in all it is a great (low cost) option to use a controller.
The 8.2 version also comes with a handy modern dashboard where you can see very detailed information on your clients and their connections.

Hope that helps

Matt

NOC-Ninja

WLC VM if you want to be familiar. If you want to be exposed to the hardware then buy the WLC 2500