Cisco Services
Hot standby management

Hot Standby mode designates an access point as a backup for another access point. The standby access point is placed near the access point it monitors, configured exactly the same as the monitored access point. The standby access point associates with the monitored access point as a client and queries the monitored access point regularly through both the Ethernet and the radio ports. If the monitored access point fails to respond, the standby access point comes online and takes the place in the network of the monitored access point.

Except for the IP address, the settings of the standby access point should be identical to the settings on the monitored access point. If the monitored access point goes offline and the standby access point takes its place in the network, matching settings ensures that client devices can switch easily to the standby access point.

Hot standby mode is disabled by default as shown in Figure .

To utilize hot standby, configure the following parameters:

  • Service Set ID (SSID) – The SSID is a unique identifier that client devices use to associate with the access point. The SSID allows client devices to distinguish between multiple wireless networks in the same vicinity. The SSID can be any alphanumeric entry from 2 up to 32 characters long.
  • MAC Address for the Monitored Access Point – Enter the monitored access point MAC address.
  • Polling Frequency – Enter the number of seconds between each query the standby access point sends to the monitored access point.
  • Timeout for Each Polling – Enter the number of seconds the standby access point should wait for a response from the monitored access point before it assumes the monitored access point has malfunctioned.
  • Current Status – Reports the standby status of the access point.