An AP group can be used to define configuration options and apply them to several APs at once. If your wireless network covers a large physical environment and you want to provide wireless services with some common settings and policies to different areas of your environment, you can use AP Groups to do this instead of having to modify the settings of each AP individually. For example, if your wireless network covers two floors and you need to provide wireless access to visitors on the 1st floor, you can simply setup two different AP groups with different settings and policies to suit your application.

Creating a New AP Group

Follow the steps below to create a new AP group.

1. Click on Add button to create a new AP group.

2. Enter the name and description of the new AP group.

3. In the Member Setting section, all managed access points that are not currently assigned to an AP group will be listed in Managed APs list on the left. Users can select the access points from the list and click Add to assign to this group. The access points will be moved to the Group Member list on the right .

4. Configure Radio, WLAN, and Advanced settings then click on Apply for settings to take effect.

5. Regarding Mesh AP setting in Advanced settings from AP Group, users can enable this feature to let APs in the group to become mesh members. If this feature is enabled, when mesh AP detects it’s no longer having wired connection to reach other mesh AP, it will then use the mesh link to set up connection to one of the best preferred mesh peer AP for connection. The RF link of either 2.4GHz or 5GHz can be decided by Mesh Profile settings under controller tab on EWS switch’s web management page.

Please click on the device item to override group settings; the following shows that items like Channel HT Mode, Transmit Power, and Client Limits are eligible to be overridden.

AP Group Management

Use the following tool or buttons in controller web management page for further configuration or management:

Managing Access Points

EnSky access points can either be configured individually or configured as a group.

To manage an access point individually, click on the Device Name field of the access point you wish to configure, and you will be directed to a screen where you can configure settings for the access point.

To manage access points as a group, go to Device Management > AP Groups to create an AP group and add members into the group. Click on the Group field of the AP you wish to configure, and you will be directed to a screen where you can configure settings for the AP group.

Group settings can be overridden by individual AP settings. For example, if you want to set the transmit power to a lower setting for only a few specific APs, leave the Transmit Power at Auto in the Wireless Radio Settings of the AP Group, then click on the Device Name field of the access point (which is already in a group) you wish to configure and you will be directed to a screen where you can configure override settings for the selected access point.

Refresh Countdown Timer

Dashboard

AP(s) Detected List

Remove AP

Reboot AP

Search Bar

Status

This indicates the current status of the managed access point.

General Settings

Wireless Radio Settings

WLAN Settings - 2.4GHz/5GHz

Under the WLAN settings, you can create and manage SSID configurations and profiles for the access points to fit your needs. An SSID is basically the name of the wireless network to which a wireless client can connect to. Multiple SSIDs allow administrators to use a single physical network to support multiple applications with different configuration requirements. Up to 8 SSIDs are available per radio. Click on the SSID you wish to make changes to, and you'll be directed to the SSID configuration page.

SSID Config

Captive Portal: When enabled, users will see a captive portal page upon connecting to SSID. The captive portal profile can be customized by clicking “Profile Setting” which can also be configured in Hotspot Service from controller settings.

Wireless MAC Filter: This is default disabled and users can select either “Allow MAC in the List” or “Deny MAC in the List” to make this filter as whitelist or backlist for SSID.

Traffic Shaping: This feature regulates the allowed maximum download/upload speed per SSID or per user. Select to enable or disable wireless traffic shaping for this SSID profile with respective download/upload limits per SSID or user.

• Download Limit: This specifies the allowed maximum download speed.

• Upload Limit: This specifies the allowed maximum upload speed.

Fast Roaming: This feature uses protocols defined in 802.11r to facilitate continuous connectivity for wireless devices roaming from one AP to another. Coupled with 802.11k, wireless devices are able to quickly identify nearby APs that are available for roaming and, once the signal strength of the current AP weakens and your device needs to roam to a new AP, it will already know which AP is best to connect with.

Security: Select the security method (None, WPA2 Enterprise, or WPA2-PSK):

WPA2 Enterprise: WPA2 is the Wi-Fi Alliance IEEE 802.11i standard, which include AES mechanisms.

• RADIUS Server: Enter the IP address of the RADIUS server.

• RADIUS Port: Enter the port number used for connections to the RADIUS server.

• RADIUS Secret: Enter the secret required to connect to the Radius server.

• Group Key Update Interval: Specify how often, in seconds, the group key changes. Select 0 to disable.

• NAS-ID: This attribute contains a string identifying the NAS originating the Access-Request.

• NAS-PORT: This attribute indicates the physical port number of the NAS which is authenticating the user.

• NAS-IP: This attribute indicates the identifying IP Address of the NAS which is requesting authentication of the user.

• RADIUS Accounting: This can be checked to enables the accounting feature.

• RADIUS Accounting Server: Enter the IP address of the RADIUS accounting server.

• RADIUS Accounting Port: Enter the port number used for connection to the RADIUS accounting server.

• RADIUS Accounting Secret: Enter the secret required to connect to the RADIUS accounting server.

• Accounting Group Key Update Interval: Specify how often, in seconds, the accounting data send. The range is from 60~600 seconds.

WPA2-PSK: WPA2 with PSK (Pre-shared key), designed for home and smaller office networks that don't require the complexity of an 802.1X authentication server.

• WPA2 Passphrase: Enter the passphrase you wish to use. If you are using the ASCII format, the Key must be between 8~64 characters in length.

• Group Key Update Interval: Specify how often, in seconds, the Group Key changes.

Advanced Settings

LED Control: In some environments, the blinking LEDs on APs are not welcomed. This option allows you to enable or disable the device’s LED indicators. Note that only indoor models support this feature.

RSSI Threshold: With this feature enabled, in order to minimize the time the wireless client spends on passively scanning for a new AP to connect to, the AP will send a disassociation request to the wireless client upon detecting the wireless client's RSSI value lower than the specified. The RSSI value can be adjusted to allow for more clients to stay connected to this access point. Note that setting the RSSI threshold value too low may cause sticky wireless clients to reconnect frequently. Disabling this feature is recommended unless you deem it necessary.

Management VLAN: This specific VLAN ID can be used to separate management traffic from regular network traffic.

Summary

The Summary page shows general system information for the EWS switch including the Controller Status, the software version, the maximum number of APs the system can manage, MAC Address, IP Address, serial number, and system uptime for the system.

Dashboard

The Dashboard on the upper right corner of the GUI shows the current status of EWS APs that have been managed by the EWS switch.

Controller State

Status: Select whether to Enable or Disable the Controller feature on the switch. ezMaster Address: If you have an ezMaster server running and want to have ezMaster manage this EWS switch directly, enter the IP Address/domain name of the ezMaster server.

Click Apply to save the changes to the system.

System Information

• Controller Version: This is the software version of the device.

• Max. Managed APs: The maximum number of APs the device can manage.

• IP Address: Displays the IP address of the device.

• Base MAC Address: Displays universally assigned network address.

• Serial Number: Displays the serial number of the device.

• System Uptime: Displays the number of days, hours, and minutes since the last system restart.

Wireless Management

• Access Point Auto Discovery and Provisioning

• Access Point Auto IP Assignment

• Access Point Group Management

• Visual Topology View

• Floor Plan View

• Map View

• Access Point Status Monitoring

• Wireless Client Monitoring

• Wireless Traffic & Usage Statistics

• Real-time Throughput Monitoring

• Bulk Firmware Upgrade Capability

• Remote Access Point Rebooting

• Fast Roaming

• Band Steering

• Traffic Shaping

• Intelligent Diagnostics

• Access Point Device Name Editing

• Access Point Radio Settings

• RSSI Threshold

• Access Point Client Limiting

• Wireless Security (WEP, WPA/WPA2 Enterprise, WPA/WPA2 PSK)

• VLANs for Access Point- Multiple SSIDs

• Guest Network

• Secure Control Messaging (SSL Certificate)

• Local MAC Address Database

• Remote MAC Address Database (RADIUS)

• Configuration Import / Export

L2 Features

• 802.3ad Link Aggregation

  • Maximum of 8 groups/8 ports per group

• Port Mirroring

  • One-to-One

  • Many-to-One

• Spanning Tree Protocol

• • 802.1D Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)

  • 802.1w Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP)

  • 802.1s Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol (MSTP)

• MAC Address Table

  • 8K entries

• Static MAC Address

  • 256 entries

• 802.1ab Link Layer Discovery Protocol

• IGMP Snooping

  • IGMP v1/v2/v3 Snooping

  • Supports 256 IGMP groups

  • IGMP per VLAN

  • IGMP Snooping Querier

  • IGMP Snooping Fast Leave

• MLD Snooping

  • MDL Snooping v1/v2

  • Supports 256 MLD groups

  • IGMP per VLAN

• Jumbo Frame

  • Up to 9216 bytes

• 802.3x Flow Control

• 802.3az Energy Efficient Ethernet

VLAN

• 802.1Q support

• VLAN Group

  • Max 4094 static VLAN groups

• Voice VLAN

QoS

• 802.1p Quality of Service

  • 8 queues per port

• Queue Handling

  • Strict

  • Weighted Round Robin (WRR)

• QoS based on:

  • 802.1p Priority

  • DSCP

• Bandwidth Control

  • Port-based (Ingress/Egress, 64 Kbps~1000 Mbps)

• Broadcast/Unknown Multicast/ Unknown Unicast Storm Control

Access Control List (ACL)

• Layer 2/3

  • Support maximum 32 entries (ACL)

  • Support maximum 256 entries (ACE)

• ACL based on:

  • MAC address

  • VLAN ID

  • 802.1p priority

  • Ethertype

  • IP address

  • Protocol type

  • DSCP

Security

• 802.1X

  • Guest VLAN

  • Port-based Access Control

• Supports RADIUS Authentication

• Port Security

  • Up to 256 MAC Addresses per port

• Port Isolation

• DoS Attack Prevention

• BPDU Attack Prevention

Monitoring

• Port Statistics

• System Log

• RMON

Management

• Web Graphical User Interface (GUI)

• Command Line Interface (CLI)

• BootP/DHCP Client/DHCPv6 Client

• SSH Server

• Telnet Server

• TFTP Client

• HTTPS

• SNMP

  • Supports v1/v2c/v3

• SNMP Trap

• SNTP

• Configuration restore/backup

Diagnostic

• Cable Diagnostic

• Ping Test

• Trace Route

MIB/RFC Standards

• RFC1213

• RFC1493

• RFC1757

• RFC2674

• RFC 2863

Operating Temperature

• 0 to 40°C (EWS2910P, EWS2908P)

• 0 to 50°C (EWS5912FP, EWS7928P, EWS1200-28TFP, EWS7926EFP, EWS7952P, EWS7952FP)

Storage Temperature

• -40°C to 70°C

Humidity (Non-condensing)

• 5% - 95%

Dimensions (W x D x H)

• EWS2908P: 240x105x27mm

• EWS2910P: 240x105x27mm

• EWS5912FP: 330x230x44mm

• EWS7928P: 440x260x44mm

• EWS1200-28TFP: 440x260x44mm

• EWS7926EFP: 440x260x44mm

• EWS7952P: 440x310x44mm

• EWS7952FP: 440x310x44mm

The EnGenius EWS Series of wireless management switches is an affordable centralized wired/wireless management system developed specifically for entry-level small-to-medium businesses. This powerful device can be easily deployed and operated by non-tech experts and installed effortlessly and quickly. Any organization with a limited IT team and budget can create a stable and secure wireless network in no time. The system integrates seamlessly with existing routers, switches, firewalls, authentication servers, and other network devices. It can be placed within any network, configured to act as both a wireless controller as well as a Layer 2 gigabit switch, providing robust and centralized management of the whole network through one powerful system. With no additional costs or license purchasing necessary, network administrators can manage and monitor both wired and wireless nodes through a single web interface.

The system can automatically discover any supported EnGenius EWS Series access points connected to the network with a simple click of a mouse, self-configure and become instantly manageable. Simply log into the device via any standard web browser and assign APs into cluster groups. Wireless radio, wireless security, and other wireless related configurations can all be easily applied to multiple APs simultaneously, eliminating the time-consuming process of configuring every wireless access point individually.

The user-friendly GUI provides instant access to a variety of client and network information including managed AP List, Auto Discovered AP List, Cluster Grouping List, and Client List with complete MAC/IP Address, Incoming/Outgoing Traffic, Wireless Output Power and other relevant information. Traffic statistics of APs and clients are automatically converted into easy-to-understand graphs, providing a visual representation of the network traffic.

The topology view feature allows administrators to quickly see the whole wired/wireless network topology in real-time for easier planning, troubleshooting, and monitoring. The Floor Plan View and Map View allow for quickly locating deployed APs, a helpful feature for large scale AP deployment and multi-site management. There's also an Intelligent Diagnostics feature for administrators to check the status of wireless APs and provide easy troubleshooting for offline units and rebooting of APs remotely.

Key Features

• 10/100/1000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet Ports

• Dedicated SFP / SFP+ slots for longer connectivity via fiber uplinks and for uplink redundancy and failover

• IGMP and MLD snooping for advanced multicast filtering

• IEEE802.3ad Link Aggregation

• STP/RSTP/MSTP

• Access Control List/Port Security

• IEEE802.1X and RADIUS Authentication

• RMON

• SNMP v1/v2c/v3

• Voice VLAN for fast and reliable deployment of VoIP

• Energy Efficient Ethernet (IEEE802.3az) support for better energy saving when more IEEE-compliant end devices are available in the market

• Advanced QoS with IPv4/IPv6 ingress traffic filtering (ACLs) and prioritization

• Easy to manage via web-based management GUI for switch deployment

• Standard-based technology, ensuring interoperability with any standard-based devices in the existing network

• Dual firmware images, improving reliability and uptime for your network

System Requirement

The following are the minimum system requirements in order to configure the device:

• Computer with an Ethernet interface or wireless network capability

• Windows OS (XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10), Mac OS, or Linux-based operating systems

• Web-Browsing Application (i.e. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, or another similar browser application)

Package Content

The package contains the following items (all items must be in the package to receive a refund):

EWS2908P, EWS2910P

• EnGenius Switch

• Power Adapter / Power Cord

• Rubber Footpads

• Wall-mount Kit

• Quick Installation Guide

EWS5912FP, EWS7928P, EWS1200-28TFP, EWS7926EFP, EWS7952P, EWS7952FP

• EnGenius Switch

• Power Cord

• RJ-45 Console Cable

• Rack-mount Kit

• Quick Installation Guide

Discovery with a DHCP Server

Use the procedures below to set up the switch within a network that uses DHCP.

1. Connect the switch to your network (DHCP enabled) and connect the supplied power cord to the switch and plug the other end into an electrical outlet. Verify the power LED indicator is lit on the switch.

2. Wait for the switch to completely boot up, which might take a minute.

3. Connect one end of a Category 5/6 Ethernet cable into the Gigabit (10/100/1000Mpbs) Ethernet port on the switch front panel and the other end to the Ethernet port on the computer. Verify that the LED on the Ethernet ports of the switch are Green.

4. Once your computer is on, ensure that your TCP/IP is set to On or Enabled. Open Network Connections and then click Local Area Connection. Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4). Click DHCP under Auto-Configuration and click Apply to save the settings.

5. On the DHCP server, find and write down the IP address allocated to the device. Use this IP address to access the management interface.

6. A login screen will appear. By default, the username is admin, and the password is password. Enter the current password of the switch and then click Login. To make access to the web-based management interface more secure, it's highly recommended that you change the password to something more unique.

Discovery without a DHCP Server

1. Connect the supplied power cord to the switch and plug the other end into an electrical outlet. Verify the power LED indicator is lit on the switch.

2. Wait for the switch to completely boot up, which might take a minute.

3. Connect one end of a Category 5/6 Ethernet cable into the gigabit (10/100/1000Mbps) Ethernet port on the switch front panel and the other end to the Ethernet port on the computer. Verify that the LED lights on the Ethernet ports of the switch are Green.

4. Once your computer is on, ensure that your TCP/IP is set to On or Enabled. Open Network Connections and then click Local Area Connection. Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4).

5. If your computer is already on a network, ensure that you have set it to a static IP address on the interface (Example: 192.168.0.239 and the subnet mask address as 255.255.255.0).

6. Open a web browser on your computer. In the address bar of the web browser, enter 192.168.0.239 and press Enter.

7. A login screen will appear. By default, the username is admin, and the password is password. Enter the current password of the switch and then click Login. To make access to the web-based management interface more secure, change the password to something more unique.

8. Click IP Settings under the System Menu and select Static IP to configure the IP settings of the management interface.

9. Enter the IP address, Subnet Mask, and Gateway.

10. Click Apply to update the system.

Background Scanning

With Background Scanning enabled, the controller periodically samples RF activity of all surrounding access points including channel utilization and nearby devices in all available channels. Background scanning is the basis for Auto Tx Power and Rogue AP detection, and must be enabled for these features to operate. If you prefer, you may disable it if you feel it's not helpful, or adjust the scanning frequency, if you prefer scanning at greater or fewer intervals.

Auto TX Power

Using the information collected by Background Scanning, APs can automatically adjust their transmit power to optimize coverage. When enabled, APs will optimize their transmit power based on the time interval configured for Background Scanning.

From here, users can see a visual view of the topology of all supported devices in the network. The EWS switch automatically maps your network deployment and displays the device relationships across your network infrastructure—an essential feature for troubleshooting network issues that would otherwise require manual mapping, monitoring software, or manually keeping track of MAC address tables.

Use the directional pad and the plus or minus buttons to navigate your topology view of the network. You can also search access points in the network via their IP or MAC address. Check the Show Port Info box to display connected port information.

Default credentials to Management GUI

EWS1200-28TFPv2/ EWS7928Pv2/ EWS7952FPv3

EWS7952Pv2

Access points in the network will be automatically discovered by the EWS switch and will be listed under the AP(s) Detected list in the Access Point menu.

1. Select the access point(s) you wish to manage and click Add.

2. You will be prompted to assign the IP Address under the IP Assignment screen.
3. Click Apply and the access point(s) you’ve configured will be moved to the managed list. Note that the status of the AP will change from Connecting to Provisioning to Online. Once the status turns Online, your Access Point(s) have been successfully added to the Managed list.

The Mesh View feature enables the administrator to view the mesh connection status between APs in the AP Group with mesh setting enabled.

From here, users can see a visual view of the topology of all supported devices in the network. The EWS switch automatically maps your network deployment and displays the device relationships across your network infrastructure—an essential feature for troubleshooting network issues that would otherwise require manual mapping, monitoring software, or manually keeping track of MAC address tables.

Use the directional pad and the plus or minus buttons to navigate your topology view of the network. You can also search access points in the network via their IP or MAC address. Check the Show Port Info box to display connected port information.

From here, users can view a geographical representation of access points in the network. Click AP List to display the list of access points managed by the EWS switch and then simply click-and-drag the AP marker to the desired location on the map.

The Floor View feature enables an administrator to upload custom floor plans and place AP markers in corresponding locations for better network visualization of a wireless network. Multiple images can be uploaded to visualize access point placement on multiple floors of an office building or different branch offices within an organization.

Floor Plan Image

From here, an administrator can add or delete a custom map or floor plan image. An unlimited number of floor plan images can be imported to the EWS switch. However, the total file size of all imported floor plans is limited to 6MB, and the maximum file size per image is 512KB (a smaller image loads faster). Valid image file formats are .PNG, .GIF or .JPG.

Status Dashboard

Total: This displays the total memory storage space allocated for uploading custom floor plans.

Available: This displays currently available memory storage space.

In Use: Displays the memory storage space that is currently in use.

Floor Plan View

After importing your floor plan image, you can distribute markers that represent the APs to the correct locations by clicking on AP List and dragging each marker icon to its corresponding location on the floor plan. Also, Wireless Coverage Display can be toggled on to indicate the coverage range of each AP, assisting IT managers to plan and deploy wireless networks in any indoor environment easily and accurately. Click on Save Plan when you're done to save settings.

AP Info

RF Coverage

Click to reveal a list of APs that the EWS switch is currently managing.

The number in the marker represents the number of wireless clients that are currently connected to the access point.

Left-click on the access point marker to bring up a menu where you can configure AP settings, remove AP from management list, reboot AP, redirect to the active clients page or redirect to troubleshooting page.

:

From here, users can view wireless client information, temporarily disconnect, and permanently block the wireless clients that are associated with the access points managed by EWS switch. In addition, EWS switch is capable to identify client devices by their operating system, device type and host name when client devices are using DHCP. If multiple access points are within the same network, please use the search bar to find the specific access point by its name or MAC address.

Rogue access points mostly refer to those unauthorized and unmanaged APs attached to existing or nearby networks which could bring harm to the deployed WLAN or gain access to confidential business information. With Background Scanning enabled, the rogue AP detection feature can be used to periodically scan 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequency bands to identify rogue wireless access points not managed by the EWS switch.

Global Settings

From here, you can Enable or Disable the Log settings for the EWS switch.

Local Logging

The System Log is designed to monitor the operation of the EWS switch by recording the event messages it generates during normal operation. These events may provide vital information about system activity that can assist in the identification and solutions of system problems.

The EWS switch supports log output to two repositories: Flash and RAM. The information stored in the system’s RAM log will be lost after the switch is rebooted or powered off, whereas the information stored in the system’s Flash will be kept even after the switch is rebooted or powered off. The flash repository has a fixed capacity; at a certain level, the EWS switch will start deleting the oldest entries to make room for the newest.

Severity Level

RFC 5424 defines eight severity levels:

Remote Logging

The internal log of the EWS switch has a fixed capacity; at a certain level, the EWS switch will start deleting the oldest entries to make room for the newest. If you want a permanent record of all logging activities, you can set up your syslog server to receive log contents from the EWS switch. Use this page to direct all logging to the syslog server. Click the Add button, define your syslog server, and select the severity level of events you wish to log.

Event Logs

This page displays the most recent records in the EWS switch's internal log. Log entries are listed in reverse chronological order (with the latest logs at the top of the list). Click a column header to sort the contents by that category.

Display logs in　

Type

Export Click Export button to export the current buffered log to a .txt file.

Clear Click Clear button to clear the buffered log in the system's memory.

Alert Settings

If an alert is detected, the EWS switch will record it in the event log. The EWS switch can also be configured to send email notifications for selected events.

Mail Alert State: Select whether to Enable/Disable email notification.

Mail Information Setting

• SMTP Server: Enter the name of the mail server.

• SMTP Port: Enter the SMTP port.

• SSL/TSL: Enable this option if your mail server uses SSL/TLS encryption.

• Authentication: Select this option to enable authentication.

• User Name: Enter the username required by the mail server.

• Password: Enter the password required by the mail server.

• From Mail Address: Enter the email address that will appear as the sender of the email alert.

• To Mail Address: Enter the email address to which the EWS switch will send alarm messages. You can only send alarm messages to a single email address.

• Subject: Enter the subject of the email notification.

Test: To verify that the EWS switch can send email notifications using the SMTP settings you just configured, please click the Test button for a quick test.

Apply: Click Apply to save settings.

Event Binding

Use this page to choose which types of events will trigger the EWS switch to send an email notification. When any of the selected events occur, the EWS switch sends an email notification to the email address that you specified in the Monitoring > Email Alert > Alert Settings section.

The table below provides explanations for EWS controller syslog event messages.

In addition to viewing information based on specific access points, you can view data via specific clients for security purposes.

The page displays a visual chart of the network traffics of all the access points managed by the EWS switch.

A hotspot is a wireless network that provides access through a captive portal. Use this feature to set up captive portal-related configurations.

A captive portal can be used to provide authorized guest users with network access while containing unauthorized users. Users will need to enter a valid username and password before they are allowed access to the Internet through the hotspot. Once a captive portal profile is created, the administrator can apply this profile to multiple SSIDs of specific managed APs or AP Group.

The node list will list all participating AP nodes in the mesh network with their respective types (either root node or mesh node), hops count, and corresponding neighbor nodes.

• Login Type: Defines the mechanism by which a wireless client gains access to the network after the client has associated with the SSID.

• Network Connection Mode: Either “Bridged” or “NAT” mode can be chosen: if bridged mode is selected, users will obtain IP addresses from local DHCP server in the same network; on the other hand, if NAT mode is selected, users will get assigned IP addresses from DHCP server of managed AP which his/her wireless client devices connect to.

• Login Page: A splash page is the web page which prompts the user to log in with a username and password or accept a network user policy once the client has associated with the SSID.
• Redirect Behavior: Configure the destination where users will be redirected after successful login. You can redirect them to the page that they want to visit, or you can set a different page where users will be redirected.

• User Session: Configure session timeout and ideal timeout period.
• Walled Garden: This option allows users to define network destinations that users can access before authentication, for example, your business website.

This page displays the real-time throughput status and variation of the selected access point.

On this page, an administrator can create, edit, and remove user accounts used for the captive portal's local database for authentication.

For WLAN coverage extension for which a wired connection is hard to reach, the EWS controller switch exploits the mesh feature from EnSky AP to extend WLAN connectivity for those areas. A mesh network allows managed APs to connect directly to a switch or connect over wireless links dynamically and non-hierarchically to other managed AP nodes and cooperate with one another to efficiently route data.

Use the Schedule Tasks feature to control the time(s), or day(s) of a week, or date of a month to automatically perform the following task.

The mesh tools enclose 3 available useful tools including ping, traceroute, and throughput to let users easily verify mesh link effectiveness between participating AP nodes in the mesh network.

Ping: This tool can be used to check the reachability from one node to another in a mesh network.

Traceroute: This tool can be used to check the hop count and reachability from one node to another in a mesh network.

Throughput: This tool can be used to measure the throughput from one node to another in a mesh network.

The list of isolated nodes shows the nodes that have lost connection to other nodes in the mesh network which may be caused by power disruption or change from surrounding environment. Users are encouraged to do a physical check on mesh AP placement for further verification.

The Bulk Upgrade feature allows administrators to upgrade the firmware of multiple access points at the same time. After uploading the firmware of an AP, the system will automatically display a list of eligible managed access points for this uploaded firmware.

To upgrade, please follow the steps below:

1. Click on Upload New File to mount AP firmware onto EWS switch flash.

2. Once the access point firmware is uploaded onto the Controller, the list of eligible access points for this uploaded firmware will appear in the device list.

3. Select the access points you wish to upgrade and click Add to upgrade to start the firmware upgrading process.

From here, you can troubleshoot any issues you have with access points connected to the network. This feature is designed primarily for administrators to verify and test the link route between the switch and the access point. A troubleshooting solution is provided by the system so that administrators can know where the problem lies. Note that the topology of the network needs to be saved for this function to work properly.

Choosing an Access Point to Diagnose

A list will show the current status of access points on the network. Select an access point to begin a diagnostic test. If multiple access points are connected, use the search bar in the top right of the page to find the access point you wish to troubleshoot. The controller will run a diagnostic test for the selected access point. Click Start to run the test. The test takes a few seconds to complete. Afterwards, the results will display on the page.

The EWS switch can be configured to automatically check for new firmware updates for your EnSky devices. The icon below will appear on the upper right corner of the user interface when a new update is available. Simply click on the icon and follow the on-screen instructions to update your devices.

Update List

This page displays the devices which has new firmware updates available. A release note states the purpose of the firmware. Click on Check for Updates for the EWS switch to check for the latest firmware. Select the devices you wish to update and click on Update button to begin the updating process.

Update Settings

Automatically Check for Updates

Enable/disable automatically checks for new updates for your devices.

Update Server

Choose whether you wish to check for updates from an EnGenius server or specify your own http/ftp server path.

Check updates from specific server

Apart from copying firmware image files into the specific http/ftp path, an index file is required in the same folder.

Follow the instructions below for creating the index file.

1. Create a new .txt file with the name "lastfwlist.txt".

2. In the file, create entries based on the format below and save the file.

<Model Name>,<Firmware Version>,<File Name>,<MD5>,<SKU>