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.
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.
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.
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.
Managed
This shows the number of APs currently managed by the EWS switch.
Active
This shows the number of managed APs that currently have an active connection with the EWS switch’s controller.
Offline
This shows the number of managed APs that currently do not have an active connection with the EWS switch’s controller.
Clients
This shows the total number of wireless clients currently connected to all the managed APs.
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.
Note: For latency-sensitive applications such as VoIP, it is recommended to set the background scan interval to a higher value, e.g. 5 or 10 minutes. For regular applications, the recommended value is 30 seconds. This value will also be directly related to how long it takes the AP to scan for rogue devices.
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.
Note: Background Scanning must be enabled, and Tx Power of APs must be set to Auto (under Wireless Radio Settings) for this feature to operate.
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.
Follow the steps below to create a new AP group.
Click on Add button to create a new AP group.
Enter the name and description of the new AP group.
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 .
Configure Radio, WLAN, and Advanced settings then click on Apply for settings to take effect.
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.
Note: As most settings from above step-4 are the same as mentioned in last section of Access Point Settings, these common settings will apply to all AP members in the group. Depending on your design on applying group settings to APs in deployed WLAN, certain parameters like channel and transmit power may need to be overridden to reduce RF interference or optimize overall WLAN performance.
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.
Use the following tool or buttons in controller web management page for further configuration or management:
Icons
Functions
Descriptions
Search Bar
Use the Search Bar to search for keywords in the list using the following criteria: AP Group Name, AP MAC, AP Name, Description.
Add Button
Use the Add Button to create a new AP Group.
Edit Button
Use the Edit Button to edit the configurations of the AP Group.
Delete Button
Use the Delete Button to remove an AP Group.
This page displays the status of all EnSky access points that your Controller is currently managing as well as all the EnSky access points in the network that the Controller has discovered. Use this page to add EnSky access points to your EWS switch’s Controller access point list.
The EWS switch can manage supported EnSky Series access points. For the discovery procedure to succeed, the EWS switch and the EnSky access point must be connected in the same network. The EWS switch can discover supported EnSky access points with any IP address and Subnet settings.
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.
This indicates the current status of the managed access point.
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.
Prefer 5GHz: All dual-band clients with 5GHz RSSI above the threshold will be connected to the 5GHz band.
Force 5GHz: All dual-band clients will be connected to the 5GHz.
Band Balance: This option automatically balances the number of newly connected clients across both 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands based on configured percentage for 5GHz clients.
Band Steering only defines the action when a wireless client associates with an AP for the first time, and the wireless client must be in both 2.4GHz and 5GHz wireless coverage zone when being authenticated with the AP for the Band Steering algorithm to take effect.
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.
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.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
When configuring or updating AP's management VLAN settings, make sure that the same management VLAN settings are applied to the EWS switch as well.
Note: For Band Steering to take effect, both 2.4GHz and 5GHz SSIDs must have the same SSID and security settings. Wireless clients must be in both 2.4GHz and 5GHz wireless coverage zone upon being authenticated with the AP for the Band Steering algorithm to take effect. Several Band Steering options are listed below:
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Note that not every wireless client supports 802.11k and 802.11r. Both the SSID and security options must be the same for this fast roaming to work. Fast roaming is available when either WPA2-Enterprise or WPA2-PSK security methods are configured.
Items
Descriptions
Managed
This shows the number of APs in the managed AP database that are configured with the EWS switch.
Active
This shows the number of managed APs that currently have an active connection with the EWS switch’s controller.
Offline
This shows the number of managed APs that currently do not have an active connection with the EWS switch’s controller.
Status
Explanation
Online
AP is connected and managed by the EWS switch.
Provisioning
AP is currently in the process of connecting to the EWS switch.
Applying Change
AP is currently being applied with system changes.
Connecting
AP is currently connecting to the EWS switch.
Offline
AP is currently offline.
Resetting
AP is resetting.
Firmware Upgrading
AP is currently undergoing firmware upgrade process.
Invalid IP
The subnet of managed AP’s IP address is not the same as the EWS switch. Please remove AP and reconfigure AP to the correct IP settings.
Incompatible Version
AP firmware is not compatible with EWS switch.
Checking Certificate
EWS switch is checking the SSL Certificate of AP.
Items | Descriptions |
ID | The ID displays the SSID profile identifier. |
SSID | This displays the SSID name as it appears to the wireless clients in the network. |
2.4GHz | This check-box option displays the current SSID profile is enabled or disabled for 2.4GHz and allows user to check/uncheck. |
5GHz | This check-box option displays the current SSID profile is enabled or disabled for 5GHz and allows user to check/uncheck. |
Captive Portal | This indicates whether the Captive Portal is enabled or disabled for this SSID profile. |
Security | It displays the security mode the SSID uses. |
Encryption | It displays the data encryption type the SSID uses. |
Hidden SSID | It indicates whether the hidden SSID is enabled or disabled. |
VLAN | This displays the VLAN ID associated with the SSID. Note: For multi-SSID applications, different VLAN IDs can be assigned to an individual SSID where this ID should match its corresponding subnet’s VLAN ID with respect to local network segmentation on VLAN assignment. If a specific VLAN ID is configured to SSID, please also make sure that AP’s connected port and uplink port (on all cascading switches as well) have enclosed this VLAN ID in their VLAN settings (refer to VLAN settings under “Switch” tab.) |
Items | Descriptions |
Enable SSID | Select to enable or disable this SSID profile. |
SSID | Enter the SSID for the current profile. This is the name that is visible to wireless clients on the network. |
Hidden SSID | Enable this option if you do not want to broadcast this SSID. This can help discourage wireless users from connecting to a particular SSID. |
VLAN Isolation | When enabled, all traffic frames from wireless clients connected to this SSID will be tagged with a corresponded 802.1Q VLAN tag when going out from the AP’s Ethernet port. |
VLAN ID | When VLAN Isolation is enabled, enter the VLAN ID for the SSID profile. The range is from 1~4094. When VLAN tagging is configured per SSID, all data traffic from wireless users associated with that SSID is tagged with the configured VLAN ID. Please be advised multiple SSIDs also can be configured to use the same VLAN tag; for example, a single VLAN ID could be used to identify all wireless traffic traversing the network, regardless of the SSID. When AP receives VLAN-tagged traffics from the upstream switch or router, it forwards the traffics to the corresponding SSID. |
L2 Isolation | When enabled, wireless client traffic from all hosts and clients on the same subnet will be blocked. |
Add Whitelist | When L2 Isolation is enabled, users can still enter a specific MAC address per line to be exempt from L2 isolation like a specific file server on the same subnet. |
Band Steering | When enabled, upon the wireless client first connecting to the SSID, the AP will detect whether or not the wireless client is dual-band capable, and, if it is, it will facilitate the client to connect to the less congested 5GHz SSID to relieve WLAN congestion and overcrowding on the mainstream 2.4GHz frequency. Please be advised it does this by actively discouraging the client's attempts to associate with the 2.4GHz SSID. |
This is the time left before the page auto-refreshes itself. The countdown is from 15 seconds.
Items
Descriptions
Reveals a list of all APs in the network that the EWS switch automatically discovers. Mouse over the discovered access point to show general information such as the MAC address, IP address, model name, and firmware version.
Items
Descriptions
The Remove button removes selected access point(s) from managed AP list. Access points removed will be restored to standalone mode.
Items
Descriptions
The Reboot button will reboot the selected access point(s).
Items
Descriptions
Use the Search Bar to search for access points managed by the EWS switch using the following criteria: Status, model name, MAC Address, Device name, IP address, Firmware Version, and Group.
Model Name
This shows the model name of the managed access point.
MAC Address
This shows the MAC address of the managed access point.
Device Name
This displays the device name of the managed access point.
When the AP is not a group member, click on this field and you’ll be redirected to the configuration page where you can edit settings such as device name, IP Address, and Wireless Radio settings.
When the AP is a group member, click on this field to configure settings for individual access points by overriding the cluster settings.
IP Address
This shows the IP address of the managed access point.
Firmware Version
This shows the firmware version of the managed access point.
Last Update
It displays the time the access point was last detected, and the information was last updated.
Group
Displays the AP Group the access point is currently assigned to. Click on this field and you'll be redirected to the group configuration page.
Column Filter
Items | Descriptions |
Country | Select a country/region to conform to local regulations. Different regions have different rules that govern which channels can be used for wireless communications. |
Channel HT Mode | Use the drop-down menu to select the Channel HT as 20MHz, 20/40MHz or 40MHz for 2.4GHz and 20MHz, 40MHz, or 80MHz(AC/AX) for 5GHz. A wider channel improves the performance, but some legacy devices operate only on either 20MHz or 40 MHz, and this option only applies to AP with 802.11n or above modes. |
Channel | Use the drop-down menu to select the wireless channel the radio will operate on. Optimizing channel assignments reduce channel interference and channel utilization for the network, thereby improving overall network performance and increasing the network's client capacity. The list of available channels that can be assigned to radios is based on which country is selected above. |
Operating Channel | This shows the current operating channel |
Transmit Power | This allows you to manually set the transmit power on 2.4GHz or 5GHz radios. Increasing the power improves performance, but if two or more access points are operating in the same area on the same channel, it may cause interference. |
Client Limits | Specify the maximum number of wireless clients that can associate with the radio. Enter a range from 1 to 127 or fill in 0 for an unlimited client limit. |
Data Rate | Use the drop-down list to set the available transmit data rates permitted for wireless clients. The data rate affects the throughput of the access point. The lower the data rate, the lower the throughput, but the longer the transmission distance. |
Bit Rate | Configure the minimum bit rates for respective 2.4GHz and 5GHz radios. |
Items | Descriptions |
Device Name | The device name of the access point. Users can enter a custom name for the access point for recognition like its location. |
Administrator Username | Displays the current administrator login username for the access point. Enter a new Administrator username for the access point if you wish to change the username. The default username is admin. |
New Password | Enter a new password of between 1~12 alphanumeric characters. |
Verify Password | Enter the password again for confirmation. |
Auto Configuration | Select whether the device IP address will use the static IP address specified in the IP Address field or will be obtained automatically when a DHCP server is available for LAN IP rendering. |
IP Address | When “Static” is selected, enter the IP address for the access point. |
Subnet Mask | When “Static” is selected, enter the Subnet Mask for the access point. |
Default Gateway | When “Static” is selected, enter the default Gateway for the access point. |
Primary/Secondary DNS Server | When “Static” is selected, enter the Primary/Secondary DNS server name. |
Shows or hides fields in the access point list.
