ProCurve Mobility Manager 2.0 (PMM) is a plug-in module for ProCurve Manager Plus 2.1 (PCM+) that provides a solution to key business and technical needs faced by an IT manager when deploying a ProCurve wireless LAN.

By itself, PCM+ can manage some aspects of wireless APs, including software updates and device-level configuration file management. PCM+ can also deploy configuration templates, and poll for device status. However, PCM+ only discovers the ProCurve wireless access points as interconnect devices—it does not deal specifically with any of the wireless aspects of these devices. For wireless configuration, IT managers must turn to ProCurve Mobility Manager.

At the RF level, PMM discovers each individual radio, including its properties and configuration, RF detection data, client/station data, and a user-assigned trust level. PMM also allows commonly used operations to be performed on multiple radios simultaneously, such as setting the channel, transmission power, RF detection parameters, and radio state.

PMM correlates all security related information into WLAN security configurations. These configurations include SSID, VLAN, closed system, encryption, authentication, and key management for static WEP, WPA-PSK, and RADIUS authentication servers. PMM provides easy-to-use wizards for deploying WLAN security configurations across multiple radios, as well as dialogs for managing keys such as those for static WEP, WPA-PSK, and the RADIUS authentication server secret.

In this application note you will learn how to display:

• Access point proprieties
• Radio layer proprieties
• WLAN information
• Client association
• Neighbor AP detection

You will also learn how to set up wireless features such as:

• Automatic channel selection
• RF and AP neighbors detection
• WLAN security configurations
• AP configuration deployment

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You have managed wireless network, including a switch with a Wireless Edge Services Module (WESM). You have ProCurve Manager with the ProCurve Mobility Manager (PMM) module installed in order to use the advanced wireless configuration and monitoring features.

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Figure 1. Diagram showing a typical wireless network managed by ProCurve Mobility Manager.

This section explains how to display information about your wireless network.

4.1 Display access point properties
To review the basic properties for a specific AP, click the device node in the navigation tree, or double-click on the device entry in the device list. You see a high-level device view:

This high-level device view is available for any managed wireless AP discovered by PCM+, along with the device, traffic, configuration, and VLAN management functions available for use with other ProCurve managed devices.

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4.2 Display radio layer properties
Click a Radio node in the navigation tree to view the Properties tab for the radio:

The individual Radio Properties tab includes information such as:

• General properties: State of the radio, whether it is trusted, its country, etc.
• Network properties: BSSID, network type, etc.
• RF properties: RF band, radio mode, channel, transmit power, etc.

4.3 Display WLAN security settings
From the AP's Radio display, you can click the WLAN Security Configurations tab to display all known WLAN security configurations and the WLAN properties of the selected radio:


The top portion of this window lists all WLAN security configurations in the Radio. If you select a WLAN security configuration, details for the selected security configuration are displayed in the bottom portion of the window.

The default WLAN Security Configurations display includes the following information:

• SSID
• VLAN ID
• VLAN Tagging encryption mode (WEP, WPA, TKIP)
• Authentication mode and RADIUS information
• And more

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4.4 Display the station (client) visibility
Click the Stations tab for the selected Radio to display all stations connected to the selected radio and known properties for those stations:


Available information collected for known, connected stations includes:

• Station MAC and IP addresses
• Authentication state
• Association state
• Traffic forwarding (to access point) allowed or disallowed
• Security key used

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4.5 Display neighbor AP detection
When you are using the AP Radio display, you can also review information on neighboring radios, all radios within the RF scanning range of the selected AP.

For a particular radio, click the Neighbors tab to display all radios that have detected or been detected by the selected radio, along with known properties for those radios. The top half of the window displays all radios that have been detected by the selected radio during RF neighbor detection, and the bottom half of the window displays all radios that detected the selected radio during their RF detection:

Available information collected from the scanned neighbor devices allows you to:

• Identify and mark trusted and untrusted devices
• Compare configurations
• View relationships and RF proximity

4.5.1 Mark devices
To identify and mark trusted and untrusted devices:

1. Select the global Radios table.
2. Click a column heading to sort by AP or SSID or whatever makes identification easiest.
3. Select one or more radios and click on the icon with two hands on the left of the radio list. It displays a menu with several Mark as… trust levels. Select Mark as friendly for radios that you know but don’t want to manage, and Mark as rogue for unknown radios.
   

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4.5.2 Compare configurations
To compare configurations:

1. Select the global Radios table and the global WLAN Security Configurations tab.
2. View the Security configurations of different SSIDs by highlighting them and examining their Details panels.

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4.5.3 View relationships and RF proximity

1. Select a radio and click on the View Neighbors icon.

2. Select the Neighbors tab. You see the Neighbors of window, where you can view BSSID, SSID, Channel, and Signal strength of all the neighbors detected by the radio:

3. You can also use a dual perspective view. (Indicates who detected me.)
4. Navigate to other radios, and use the Back button to return.

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5.1 Set up automatic channel selection
On radios that support this feature, automatic channel selection enables and disable automatic selection of channels. To set up automatic channel detection:

1. Select the radio in the navigation tree or the Radios tab display.
2. Click the RF Tools icon in the toolbar and select an automatic channel option:
• Click the Enable automatic channel selection option to enable automatic channel selection on the radio.
  
• Or click the Disable automatic channel selection option to maintain the current operating channel and disable automatic channel selection for the radio.
3. Click OK in the confirmation pop-up to apply the automatic channel setting. The Radios list reflects the new setting for automatic channel setting:
• Manual if the automatic channel selection is disabled.
• Auto if the automatic channel selection is enabled.

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5.2 Set up RF detection
If a radio has RF detection enabled, ProCurve Mobility Manager gathers and correlates neighboring radio information. PMM provides the capability to configure RF neighbor detection on the radios of managed ProCurve access points. The RF neighbor detection option sets the RF scans on a radio.
To set up RF detection:

1. In the navigation tree or Radios tab, select the radio to display. You can select multiple radios.
2. Click the RF Tools icon in the toolbar and select the Configure RF neighbor detection option. You see the Configure RF neighbor detection window, where you can select detection properties:
   
   If you selected multiple radios, and any one of the selected radios does not support the RF scan option, an error pop-up is displayed. Click OK in the pop-up to close it, and return to the Radio list to re-select.
3. Specify the neighbor detection properties, including scan interval and scan duration, and click OK.

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5.3 Set up WLAN security configurations
The WLAN Security Configuration wizard allows you to deploy a new wireless LAN security configuration (or update) to one or more radios. WLAN security configuration includes SSID, VLAN, closed system, encryption, authentication, and key management for static WEP, WPA-PSK, and RADIUS authentication servers.

To define a WLAN security configuration for a radio on a managed AP:

1. In the navigation tree or Radios tab, select the radio to display. You can select multiple radios.
2. Click the Add WLAN Security Configuration icon in the toolbar, or right-click and select the SSID option. This launches the Add WLAN Security Configuration wizard:
   
3. Click Next to continue to the Radio Group window:
   
4. Click Next to get to the window to replace the SSID:
   
5. Enter the indicated parameters: SSID Name and Description and VLAN ID. Select whether to turn VLAN Tagging on or off. Then click Next to continue to the Add WPA Security Configuration window:
   
6. Specify the parameters for WPA configuration:
• Click the check box to Enable and configure WPA.
• Click the appropriate radio button to select the Version.
• For Cipher use the Multicast and Unicast drop-down menus to select the cipher type (TKIP, WEP, AES). This identifies the encryption method used for broadcast (multicast) and unicast traffic.
• Click the appropriate radio button to select the encryption Mode you will be using: Pre-shared key (PSK), or Dynamic key (802.1x).
• To use the Pre-shared key (PSK) encryption mode select the Type (Hex or ASCII) of characters contained in the key.
• In the Key field, enter the WPA key, using the number of hexadecimal or ASCII characters associated with the key type:
1. Hex keys must contain 64 hexadecimal numbers
2. ASCII keys contain 8 to 63 alphanumeric characters and spaces
7. Click Next to continue and configure the RADIUS authentication server:
   
8. After configuring the RADIUS server, click Next to continue. You see the Configuration Summary window, showing your new configuration:
   
9. Confirm your choices in the Configuration Summary window, then click Next. Your new WLAN security configuration is applied to the AP device.

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5.4 View wireless configuration deployment
To view detailed configuration information for a device, double-click on the device in the Configurations tab, or selefct a device in the navigation tree.

If a PCM+ Server is installed, it uses a default policy that automatically scans devices on the network, collecting device status and configuration information once a day. You can also perform a manual scan at any time.

To perform a manual scan:

1. Select the device or devices from the device list and select the Configuration tab.
   
2. Select the Scan option from the Configuration toolbar menu. You see the scan results:
   

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Scenario: A high school computer teacher has been recruited to deploy wireless across the campus. The teacher is familiar with computers, but not networking, nor is she very familiar with wireless. She has two radio ports and an idea where she wants to place them, but is not sure of coverage. She also has a ProCurve switch with two WESMs (one for redundancy). She has asked you for help in redesigning the wireless network.

You will use ProCurve Manager with the ProCurve Mobility Manager (PMM 2) plug-in.

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6.1 Create a custom group
Before using PMM’s Site View, the access point or WESM first must be attached to a custom group in ProCurve Manager.
To begin, create a custom group in ProCurve Manager (PCM) containing both Wireless Edge Services Modules (WESMs):

1. In ProCurve Manager, click on Custom Groups in the left panel.
   
2. Click the Add WLAN Security Configuration icon in the toolbar, or right-click and select the SSID option. This launches the Add WLAN Security Configuration wizard:
   
3. Give a name to the Custom Group and define it as a Custom Location:
   
4. Click on OK. Your group, MyWirelessNetwork, is now created.
   
5. Right-click on a WESM and add it to a group. Choose the custom group (MyWirelessNetwork) you have just created. Repeat the operation for the second WESM.
   

6. In the PMM Network Management pane, click on the Custom Group and select the Site View tab for the group:
   

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6.2 Import the building’s floor plan Next you show the teacher how to import a floor
Next you show the teacher how to import a floor plan of her building:

1. In the Site View tab, click on the Site Edit icon to launch Edit Mode.
2. In Edit Mode, click on the first icon on the left to load a floor plan, and browse to find the image:
   
3. Once the floor plan is loaded, click on Fit to View to adapt the image to the size of the screen:

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6.3 Simulate a manual deployment

1. The teacher wants to know what coverage her two existing WESMs/radio ports can provide. To ensure best coverage, she plans to place them in opposite corners of the building. Drag the two radio ports and place them on the map, one in the upper left corner, one in the lower right corner:

2. Click on the Annotation tab in the left panel and enable the IEEE 802.11b/g check box to get a view of the coverage for 802.11b and 802.11g wireless. The orange area represents wireless coverage, and the darkercolored ellipse in the center shows where signals from the two access points overlap:

3. Having spoken with a colleague who is the network administrator at another school, the teacher realizes that obstacles like existing walls can modify the wireless signal. She wants you to add walls to the floor plan.
   
   From the Palette tab choose an Obstacle:
   
4. Draw a line representing a wall on the floor plan:

5. From the right-hand panel choose the material of the wall, e.g., Concrete:
   
6. Display the coverage again. The teacher can see how the obstacle (the wall) affects the wireless signals. Some areas are no longer covered by the two access points:

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6.4 Simulate other deployments
The teacher then wants to simulate two other deployments:

• A deployment based on WESM/radio ports with g coverage only
• A deployment using the ProCurve Access Point 530 with a and b/g coverage.
• A deployment where she keeps the old equipment but adjusts transmit power.

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6.4.1 Simulate WESM/radio ports with 802.11g coverage only:

1. Delete the two radio ports from the floor plan. They return to the bottom of the screen.
2. Click on the AutoPlacement icon:
   
3. When asked, select an area. If the area is not empty (i.e. if obstacles are present) a warning is displayed. Accept it.
4. Then choose a Device Model of equipment (Radio Port 230), the Operation Mode (here, 802.11g) and the Data Rate (24 Mbps):
   

5. When you have specified the Auto Placement options, click on Start. You can see the result. One RP 230 placed centrally is enough to cover the area. There is a central zone (orange) with more signal strength, and another zone (yellow) where the signal is attenuated. (Colors that correspond to the different levels of attenuation of the wireless signal can be customized.) The wall is not taken into account:

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6.4.2 Simulate a deployment based on Access Point 530s with 802.11a and b/g coverage:

1. This time choose the AP 530, with 802.11a and a higher data rate (48 Mbps).
   
   The new result shows coverage over the entire area. For the zone and data rate you have selected, PMM recommends that the teacher use 10 AP 530s and place them as follows:

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6.4.3 Simulate a deployment with adjusted transmit power:
In the final scenario, the teacher wants to keep the existing layout, but adjust the transmit power to cover all areas.

1. Delete the AP 530 and replace it with the original RP 230 on the map.
2. From the right-hand panel adjust the transmit power:
   

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• ProCurve Wireless Edge Services Management and Configuration Guide:
  http://cdn.procurve.com/training/Manuals/WESM-zl-MgmtCfg-Feb2008-59918626.pdf
• Other manuals for the ProCurve Wireless Edge Services Module:
  http://h40060.www4.hp.com/procurve/includes/manuals/index.php?cc=uk&lc=en&content=wireless_zl
• Other manuals for the ProCurve Wireless Edge Services Module:
  http://h40060.www4.hp.com/procurve/includes/manuals/index.php?cc=uk&lc=en&content=ProCurve-Manager

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