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Old 11-18-2006, 04:21 AM
Robert Coe
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Default WAP54GP (POE VLAN AP)

Any users of the Linksys WAP54GP access point out there? The "P" stands for
"Power over Ethernet", but its most interesting feature is its ability to
handle a trunk line with multiple VLANs. I got several of those puppies
running with dual wireless VLANs, one totally open (no security) and the other
also ostensibly open but carrying 3rd-party (AirFortress) encryption. Despite
a rather kludgy setup process, it all worked with no problems.

But now I want to replace the AirFortress VLAN with a more conventional VLAN
using WPA2/AES. But that VLAN utterly fails to work: when a client computer
tries to connect, the RADIUS server (Windows 2003, IAS) never sees the
request. I was able to make it work, after a fashion, by turning off the VLAN
feature, but even that had sporadic failures. (My RADIUS configuration is OK;
if I substitute a WAP54GX access point, it works fine.)

I reported this problem to Linksys, who dismissed it with an offhand comment
that the firmware must have gotten corrupted when I applied the upgrade needed
for WPA2. Do it again, they said, and you should be OK. Today I went them one
better and applied the upgrade to a brand new router. My test results were
identical: it doesn't work. I'll write to Linksys again, but I think they're
in denial. Their own Q&A site has a similar report from last July, and the
user who submitted it doesn't seem to have gotten an answer either.

Has anyone here seen this problem? And (I hope) figured out what to do about
it? Or am I just out of luck - or missing something obvious?

BTW, another glitch in that model is that the WPA2 "shared secret" is limited
to 20 characters. Didn't someone in this very newsgroup recommend using at
least 22? Some APs, I believe, allow 63.

Bob

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