Cisco 300-425 Designing Cisco Enterprise Wireless Networks (ENWLSD) Exam Practice Test

The 9800 Series Wireless Controller uses CAPWAP tunnels to encapsulate and transport both control and data traffic between access points and the controller. This allows for centralized management and control while also enabling efficient data forwarding.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/9800/config-guide/b_wl_16_10_cg/mobility.html

 In an auditorium seating 500 students with laptops, a high-density design model is appropriate. This model focuses on supporting a large number of devices in a concentrated area with sufficient coverage and bandwidth. It involves strategic AP placement, proper channel planning, and capacity planning to ensure all students have reliable wireless access. References: CCNP Enterprise Wireless Design ENWLSD 300-425 and Implementation ENWLSI 300-430 Official Cert Guide Premium Edition and Practice

https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en_us/solutions/industries/docs/education/cisco_wlan_design_guide.pdf

FlexConnect APs must be in a FlexConnect group to support 802.11r Fast Transition (FT). This grouping allows for local authentication and key management, which are necessary for fast roaming methods that improve voice quality and wireless IP phone performance during roaming.

References: The official Cisco FlexConnect configuration guide 

 The Cisco Aironet 3800 Series APs support mGig, which allows for higher throughput over existing cabling. However, the maximum cable length that supports 5G operation is limited by the quality of the cable and signal attenuation. Category 5e cabling can support 5G operation up to a length of 130 meters, which is within the acceptable range for maintaining the required signal integrity for 5G speeds.

 Enabling AP fallback globally on the WLC allows access points to reconnect to their primary controller after they have connected to a secondary controller due to the primary being offline. This ensures that once the primary WLC is back online, APs will revert to it, maintaining the intended primary/secondary controller hierarchy.

Guest anchoring requires mobility tunnels to be established between the foreign and anchor WLCs. For these tunnels to function, the firewall must allow specific ports for communication. UDP port 16666 is the port used for mobility traffic in Cisco wireless networks, and if it is not allowed through the firewall, MPING and mobility tunnels will fail. References: CCNP Enterprise Wireless Design ENWLSD 300-425 and Implementation ENWLSI 300-430 Official Cert Guide Premium Edition and Practice

The data path issue between the Cisco Catalyst 9800-CL and AireOS 5520, despite an active control path, is likely due to encrypted mobility being enabled on the AireOS 5520. Encrypted mobility requires both peers to have a matching configuration for encryption, which includes proper certificates and shared secrets. If there’s a mismatch, the control path may be established, but the data path can fail due to the inability to establish an encrypted tunnel.

 To ensure that the most critical APs at remote sites remain functional in the event of a failure, the Global AP Failover Priority feature can be used. By setting the priority of the most important APs to “critical”, these APs will be given precedence over others during a failover scenario. This allows the engineer to prioritize which APs should remain online without impacting the main site’s APs, which are set to a “high” priority.

 Optimized roaming is a feature that helps manage the client’s roaming behavior by disassociating clients with a signal strength below a predefined threshold. This feature is designed to prevent clients from sticking to an AP with poor connectivity, which can lead to suboptimal performance. If the BSS Transition Management query is causing the client to roam and the disassociation imminent feature is not enabled, it indicates that optimized roaming is likely enabled, prompting the client to seek a better AP connection.

The behavior of guest client sessions in the US being anchored to the WLCs in Europe despite the presence of a local anchor WLC can be explained by the failure and subsequent recovery of the US anchor WLC. During the failure, the guest sessions would have been transferred to the European WLCs. After recovery, if the priority settings were not correctly restored or if the system did not automatically revert back to the local anchor, the sessions would remain anchored to the European WLCs3.

References: CCNP Enterprise Wireless Design ENWLSD 300-425 and Implementation ENWLSI 300-430 Official Cert Guide Premium Edition and Practice.

For a high-density WLAN environment like a 10,000-seat auditorium, placing APs under the seats can take advantage of human attenuation and maintain the aesthetics of the room. Human bodies absorb Wi-Fi signals, and placing APs under the seats helps in mitigating this effect by having the signals emanate from among the audience, rather than from above where the signals would have to pass through the audience, resulting in signal degradation1.

When a client roams between two access points (APs) that are registered to different controllers with interfaces in the same client subnet, the controllers will exchange mobility control messages over UDP port 16666. This is in accordance with the Designing Cisco Enterprise Wireless Networks (ENWLSD) guidelines. The purpose of these messages is to ensure seamless roaming, where the client’s session and authentication state are transferred from one controller to another without requiring re-authentication or re-association by the client. The mobility control messages facilitate the coordinated transfer of the client database entry from the original controller to the new one, maintaining a consistent experience for the user.

 AP groups allow the mapping of specific WLANs (SSIDs) to distinct VLANs for different locations. This design enables clients to be on different subnets based on their building location without modifying the access points’ mode of operation.

 The most effective way to address the issue is to resurvey the areas with the correct survey devices. This ensures that the design accurately reflects the performance characteristics of the specified access points for each area type, leading to a more reliable and efficient wireless network design tailored to each environment’s specific needs.

The ‘eping’ command is used on Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers to verify that the redundancy peer in a Stateful Switchover (SSO) pair of controllers is up and connected. This command sends ECHO packets to the peer controller to ensure connectivity.

When conducting an outdoor bridge site survey, weather and the Fresnel zone are critical criteria to consider. Weather can affect signal propagation and the reliability of the wireless link, while the Fresnel zone relates to the elliptical area around the line-of-sight path between transceivers, which must be clear of obstacles to ensure a strong signal. References: Designing Cisco Enterprise Wireless Networks (ENWLSD 300-425)

EoIP (Ethernet over IP) is used for communication between controllers in a guest anchor setup, allowing for seamless roaming. Inter-Controller Roaming Mechanism (IRCM) support is necessary for the controllers to facilitate roaming across different wireless LAN controllers.

Jitter is the variation in time between packets arriving, caused by network congestion, timing drift, or route changes. In a Wi-Fi network designed to support video over Wi-Fi, if video multicast traffic is unreliable despite good coverage, jitter is a key performance metric to investigate. High jitter can cause the video to play erratically, freeze, or have sync issues between video and audio streams

Link Aggregation Group (LAG) allows multiple physical ports to be combined into a single logical channel. In the scenario where only one Cisco 9800-40 WLC is available and high availability is required, LAG can be used to manage port redundancy and perform load balancing between APs transparently. This ensures that if one cable fails, the others can continue to carry the traffic without any perceived downtime

 Mobility tunnels between Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers (WLCs) use UDP port 16666 for control messages and UDP port 16667 for data traffic. If EPING is failing, it indicates that the necessary ports are not open. Allowing UDP port 16666 through the firewall would enable the control messages required for establishing the mobility tunnels.

 For a government agency requiring high security between device communications, enabling Mobility Encryption across the network is essential. Mobility Encryption enhances the security of the mobility group by encrypting the traffic exchanged between mobility peers, including AireOS, Cisco IOS-XE controllers, and Cisco 4800 Series APs. This encryption helps to protect against potential eavesdropping and unauthorized access, ensuring that sensitive government data remains confidential during wireless transmission.

Voice over wireless roaming is sensitive to delays and interruptions. Full reauthentication, as mentioned in option A, can cause noticeable gaps in a voice conversation because it requires time to re-establish security credentials. This process can interrupt the seamless experience expected in voice communications. Option E is also correct because roaming with only 802.1x authentication indeed requires full reauthentication, which can introduce significant delays affecting voice quality. References: For more detailed information, refer to the CCNP Enterprise Wireless Design ENWLSD 300-425 and Implementation ENWLSI 300-430 Official Cert Guide.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/solutions/Enterprise/Mobility/vowlan/41dg/vowlan41dg-book/vowlan_ch5.html

The IEEE 802.11r protocol, also known as Fast BSS Transition (FT), is designed to support real-time applications by enabling faster roaming between APs. This protocol reduces the number of packets exchanged during the reauthentication process when a client moves from one AP to another, thus ensuring a more seamless transition and maintaining the quality of service required by real-time applications such as voice and video conferencing. References: Designing Cisco Enterprise Wireless Networks (ENWLSD 300-425)

 Before replacing old APs with IEEE 802.11ac-capable APs, it is crucial to check the software version of the wireless LAN controller. The controller’s firmware must support the newer standards and capabilities of 802.11ac APs. An outdated software version may not support the advanced features and performance enhancements offered by 802.11ac technology, leading to compatibility issues and suboptimal network performance.

References: CCNP Enterprise Wireless Design ENWLSD 300-425 and Implementation ENWLSI 300-430 Official Cert Guide Premium Edition and Practice.

 Cisco workgroup bridges typically support up to 8 wired clients. With 42 users, each having a computer and a VoIP phone, that’s a total of 84 devices. To connect all devices while keeping costs at a minimum, the company would need 6 APs (as 7 x 12 = 84), with each AP supporting 14 devices (7 computers and 7 VoIP phones).

So, each AP will have 25 clients. Minimum 4 APs are sufficient.

For seamless roaming between access points, the protocol that supports fast transitions is 802.11r. This amendment to the 802.11 standard allows devices to roam quickly by establishing security credentials before moving to the next access point, reducing the time required for reauthentication.

Raising the minimum data rate to 24 Mbps will reduce the range at which devices can connect, thereby reducing channel overlap. Using directional antennas can also help limit the coverage area of some APs, which can further reduce channel overlap by focusing the signal in specific directions rather than in a broad coverage pattern. References: Designing Cisco Enterprise Wireless Networks (ENWLSD 300-425)

For predictive designs, especially for location readiness and interference mitigation, a mid-range power level like 18 mw is often used. It provides a balance between coverage and minimizing interference with other devices and networks.

The command debug mobility handoff enable is used to validate the mobility control packets between Wireless LAN Controllers (WLCs). This command enables debugging of the handoff process, which is critical for ensuring seamless client roaming between controllers. When WLCs are separated by firewalls, it is essential to confirm that mobility control packets can traverse these firewalls without being dropped or rejected. The debug mobility handoff enable command allows network administrators to monitor the handoff process and troubleshoot any issues that may prevent successful client roaming.

The human body can attenuate a wireless signal by approximately 6 dB. This is due to the water content in the human body, which absorbs and reflects radio frequency signals, leading to a reduction in signal strength as it passes through or around a person. This factor is important to consider in wireless network design, especially in environments with high user density.

Jammers are non-Wi-Fi interferers that can be identified by Metageek Chanalyzer. They intentionally disrupt wireless communications by emitting radio frequencies that interfere with Wi-Fi signals. Chanalyzer is designed to detect such patterns of interference.

https://www.metageek.com/training/resources/wifi-and-non-wifi-interference

In Cisco WLC release 8.9, the controller software can scale up to 20 WLCs and 3000 APs within a single RF group. This capability allows the Radio Resource Management (RRM) algorithms to function effectively across a larger network, optimizing the wireless experience by managing the RF environment and resources across multiple controllers and access points.

References: CCNP Enterprise Wireless Design ENWLSD 300-425 and Implementation ENWLSI 300-430 Official Cert Guide Premium Edition and Practice.

To connect multiple wired devices over a workgroup bridge using an autonomous AP, a router is needed to manage the IP addresses and route traffic between the wired devices and the wireless network. The router will act as a gateway for the wired devices, allowing them to communicate with the WLAN. References: Cisco autonomous AP configuration guides and workgroup bridge deployment scenarios.

The voice readiness tool in Cisco Prime inspects the network against a dBm range that is suitable for voice over Wi-Fi. The range of -72 to -67 dBm is considered optimal for voice applications, ensuring clear audio quality and minimal packet loss.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/net_mgmt/prime/infrastructure/34/user/guide/bk_CiscoPrimeInfrastructure_3_4_0_UserGuide/bk_CiscoPrimeInfrastructure_3_4_0_UserGuide_chapter_01010.html

 In a high-availability configuration, orphaned APs will join the controller with the lowest percentage of associated Access Points (APs) per license capacity by default. This ensures a balanced distribution of APs across the controllers in the mobility group, optimizing resource utilization and network performance. References: Designing Cisco Enterprise Wireless Networks (ENWLSD 300-425)

In a mobility group, multiple controllers should be configured with the same virtual IP address to ensure proper roaming. This virtual IP address is used by wireless clients during the roaming process to facilitate seamless mobility between controllers.

 Cisco Spectrum Expert is a tool designed to identify and analyze non-Wi-Fi interference sources. During a post-deployment site survey, it can be used to detect interference from various devices such as cordless phones, Bluetooth devices, microwave ovens, and more. This tool provides a visual representation of the RF environment, allowing engineers to pinpoint the exact source of interference and take appropriate measures to mitigate its impact on the wireless network.

References := Designing Cisco Enterprise Wireless Networks (ENWLSD)

To address aesthetic concerns, using enclosures can effectively conceal wireless infrastructure, such as access points, within the environment. This helps maintain the visual appeal of the area while still providing the necessary wireless coverage.

 Smartphones and tablets typically have fewer antennas than laptops, which can affect their signal reception and transmission capabilities. Additionally, they often support lower data rates compared to laptops due to their smaller size and power constraints.

 Cisco 3800 Series APs support higher speeds provided by IEEE 802.11ac Wave 2, which Fast Ethernet switches cannot fully support. Replacing them with mGig or gigabit switches with 10G uplinks will ensure the infrastructure can handle the increased data rates. The CAT 6A standard supports these speeds, so there’s no need to replace the wiring if it’s already CAT 6A.

In Cisco WLC version 8, the need for separate WPlus licenses has been eliminated as all features that were previously part of the WPlus license are now included in the Base license. This consolidation simplifies licensing management and ensures that customers have access to all necessary features without requiring additional licenses. References := (CCNP Enterprise Wireless Design ENWLSD 300-425 and Implementation ENWLSI 300-430 Official Cert Guide Premium Edition and Practice)

The ‘tracert’ command is used to test connectivity between members of a mobility group by tracing the path that mobility control packets take over the network. This command helps identify any potential issues with the route that the packets are taking, which could affect the ability of guests to connect to the anchor controller in the DMZ. References := (CCNP Enterprise Wireless Design ENWLSD 300-425 and Implementation ENWLSI 300-430 Official Cert Guide Premium Edition and Practice)

Quality of Service (QoS) is essential for prioritizing cloud services like email and real-time communication. It helps in managing bandwidth allocation and ensuring that critical applications receive the necessary resources for optimal performance.

https://community.cisco.com/t5/wireless-mobility-documents/what-is-cckm-and-how-does-it-affect-fast-and-secure-roaming/ta-p/3130421

Band Select is a feature on Cisco WLCs that encourages dual-band capable clients to connect to the less congested 5 GHz spectrum. It works by delaying the response to clients’ probes on the 2.4 GHz band, making the 5 GHz band more attractive to the client devices.

For high availability pairing of two Cisco WLCs for client SSO, it is essential that both controllers have the same number of licenses to ensure feature parity and seamless failover. Additionally, they must run the same operating system version to avoid compatibility issues during SSO operations.

To address the sticky client problem, setting an RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) threshold can help. This configuration will prompt clients to roam to a better AP when their signal strength falls below the set threshold, thus enhancing the roaming experience and ensuring clients are connected to the AP with the strongest signal available.

 During a client roaming event, the Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) is responsible for communicating the new Layer 2 Endpoint ID (EID) mapping of a wireless supplicant to the fabric domain. The WLC acts as a mobility orchestrator within the Cisco Digital Network Architecture (DNA) to ensure seamless roaming and connectivity. References: Designing Cisco Enterprise Wireless Networks (ENWLSD 300-425)

https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/td/docs/cloud-systems-management/network-automation-and-management/dna-center/deploy-guide/cisco-dna-center-sd-access-wl-dg.pdf

The issue where APs failed over to the tertiary controller instead of the secondary controller during a controller failure is likely due to the secondary controller being at capacity. When a controller reaches its maximum capacity, it cannot accept any additional APs, causing them to failover to the next available controller in the high availability configuration.

 To maintain the same VLAN and IP address for users roaming between APs attached to different WLCs, a mobility group should be created between WLC-A and WLC-B. This allows for inter-controller roaming, where client sessions are maintained across different controllers, ensuring that users can move across the campus without losing connectivity or changing IP addresses.

References:

• Cisco’s official training and certification resources.

 Cisco FastLocate technology is part of the Cisco Hyperlocation solution, which enhances location tracking accuracy and refresh rates. Implementing Cisco FastLocate technology can address issues with refresh rates for location updates in a custom mobile app by increasing the number of location data points captured, thus providing more frequent and accurate location updates.

References := AP4800 Hyperlocation Deployment Guide - Cisco

 The Cisco Aironet 3800 Series APs support mGig, which allows for higher throughput over existing cabling. However, the maximum cable length that supports 5G operation is limited by the quality of the cable and signal attenuation. Category 5e cabling can support 5G operation up to a length of 130 meters, which is within the acceptable range for maintaining the required signal integrity for 5G speeds.

Access points can be assigned different failover priorities to determine the order in which they will failover in the event of a primary controller failure. An access point with priority 1 is given the highest priority level and is considered critical. This means it will failover before other access points with lower priorities, ensuring that the most critical areas remain covered.

For wireless clients to use the 5 GHz band when Client Band Select is enabled, certain conditions must be met. Channel bonding should be enabled on the WLAN to allow for wider channels, providing higher throughput available in the 5 GHz band. The client must receive an RSSI above the minimum threshold set for Band Select to steer them towards the 5 GHz band. Additionally, the client device must be dual-band capable to connect to both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. Co-channel interference levels and UNII-2 extended channels being enabled offer additional benefits but are not requirements for Band Select functionality. Having 802.11a enabled on WLAN is necessary for any operation on the 5 GHz band but does not specifically relate to ensuring clients use this band under Band Select policies.

References := (CCNP Enterprise Wireless Design ENWLSD 300-425 and Implementation ENWLSI 300-430 Official Cert Guide Premium Edition and Practice)

 Fast Transition (FT), also known as IEEE 802.11r, is the key-caching mechanism that must be configured to speed up the reauthentication delays on the wireless infrastructure. FT allows for rapid re-authentication when roaming between access points, reducing the time required for re-establishing security keys and thus speeding up the overall process2.

References: CCNP Enterprise Wireless Design ENWLSD 300-425 and Implementation ENWLSI 300-430 Official Cert Guide Premium Edition and Practice.

 RXSOP (Receive Start of Packet Detection Threshold) and TPC (Transmit Power Control) are two features that can help manage the challenges associated with a high AP (Access Point) count in a dense environment like a university auditorium. RXSOP can be adjusted to refine how APs differentiate between noise and valid packets, which is particularly useful in high-density areas where multiple APs might otherwise respond to the same signal. TPC helps in managing the transmit power of APs, allowing for better coverage and reduced interference among APs that are in close proximity to each other. References: Designing Cisco Enterprise Wireless Networks (ENWLSD 300-425)

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/wireless-mobility/80211/200069-Overview-on-802-11h-Transmit-Power-Cont.html

 Mobility groups are created by configuring each Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) to use the same mobility domain name and defining each WLC as a peer in the static mobility members list of every other WLC in the group. This configuration allows WLCs to share information and support seamless roaming for wireless clients across different controllers within the same mobility group.

References := Chapter: Chapter 14 - Configuring Mobility Groups - Cisco

The IEEE 802.11k protocol is designed to enable radio resource measurement and neighbor list radio management packets. This protocol allows wireless devices to better understand their radio environment, which in turn supports real-time applications over wireless by enabling devices to make quicker and more informed decisions about roaming