Practice Free 300-425 Designing Cisco Enterprise Wireless Networks (ENWLSD) Exam Questions Answers With Explanation

Setting AP fallback to disabled will prevent the AP from moving back to its defined Cisco WLCs automatically after failing over to an undefined controller. This allows manual intervention to determine when the AP should revert to its primary controller.

For predictive designs, especially for location readiness and interference mitigation, a mid-range power level like 18 mw is often used. It provides a balance between coverage and minimizing interference with other devices and networks.

 Enabling control plane encryption on the wireless controller is crucial for establishing a secure mobility tunnel between the wireless controller and the anchor controller. Control plane encryption ensures that the signaling and management traffic traversing the mobility tunnel is encrypted, providing a secure channel for guest access authentication and authorization processes. This is particularly important when the anchor controller is deployed within a DMZ, as it is exposed to potential external threats. The Cisco Catalyst 9800 Series wireless controller supports control plane security features that can be leveraged to secure the mobility tunnel and ensure the integrity and confidentiality of the control traffic.

The Virtual Switching Link (VSL) is essential for communication between the active and standby Wireless LAN Controllers (WLCs) in a Stateful Switch Over (SSO) setup. If the VSL goes down, it can lead to a split-brain scenario where both WLCs assume they are active, causing network disruptions and inconsistencies in client handling. References: Designing Cisco Enterprise Wireless Networks (ENWLSD 300-425) Official Cert Guide.

Optimized roaming is a feature that helps mitigate sticky client behavior by assessing the client’s signal strength and proactively disconnecting clients with a signal below a predefined threshold. This encourages clients to connect to a closer AP with a stronger signal, improving the overall wireless experience in high-density areas.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/technotes/80/hdx_final/b_hdx_dg_final/high_density_experience_features_added_in_release_8_0.html

 Devices that can tolerate at most 100 ms of delay when roaming are typically voice devices. Voice applications are sensitive to delays, and ensuring a maximum of 100 ms delay is a common design criterion for a wireless network supporting voice services. References: Designing Cisco Enterprise Wireless Networks (ENWLSD 300-425)

When conducting an outdoor bridge site survey, weather and the Fresnel zone are critical criteria to consider. Weather can affect signal propagation and the reliability of the wireless link, while the Fresnel zone relates to the elliptical area around the line-of-sight path between transceivers, which must be clear of obstacles to ensure a strong signal. References: Designing Cisco Enterprise Wireless Networks (ENWLSD 300-425)

The IEEE 802.11k protocol is designed to enable radio resource measurement and neighbor list radio management packets. This protocol allows wireless devices to better understand their radio environment, which in turn supports real-time applications over wireless by enabling devices to make quicker and more informed decisions about roaming

Devices that only support 2.4 GHz can increase congestion on this frequency band, especially in environments where multiple devices are present. This is because the 2.4 GHz band has fewer non-overlapping channels compared to 5 GHz, leading to more interference and potential performance issues.

 Creating AP groups for each location allows for the mapping of specific VLANs to an internal SSID tailored for that area. This approach enables clients to be on different subnets based on their building location within a single controller environment.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/wireless-mobility/wireless-vlan/71477-ap-group-vlans-wlc.html

 A fully measured wireless survey requires tools that support the active functioning of the network and allow for physical access to install and measure equipment. A PoE (Power over Ethernet) battery is necessary to power the access point during the survey. The access point itself is essential for broadcasting the signal. A ladder is needed to reach high places for proper access point placement and to measure coverage areas effectively.

To support VoWLAN services and provide roaming recommendations to supported voice clients without impacting non-VoWLAN clients, the feature that should be enabled on the VoWLAN SSID is 802.11k neighbor lists. This feature allows APs to provide information about neighboring APs that are candidates for roaming, which helps clients make better decisions about when and where to roam. References := CCNP Enterprise Wireless Design ENWLSD 300-425 and Implementation ENWLSI 300-430 Official Cert Guide Premium Edition and Practice

 For optimal Voice over WLAN (VoWLAN) design, a higher data rate is preferred to ensure quality of service and reliability. -67 dBm is a commonly recommended signal level for VoWLAN, and 802.11an, which operates in the 5 GHz band, is capable of supporting higher data rates compared to 802.11bgn, which operates in the 2.4 GHz band. The 5 GHz band is less crowded and prone to interference, making it suitable for high-speed data and voice applications.

The Cisco AIR-2702i AP can be set to various modes for different purposes. For conducting a Layer 1 site survey to discover non-Wi-Fi interference, the AP should be set to Monitor mode. In this mode, the AP can scan the radio environment for interference sources without serving any clients, making it ideal for use with tools like Metageek Chanalyzer.

For outdoor wireless networks, especially in open areas prone to harsh weather, it’s crucial to install lightning arrestors to protect against electrical surges caused by lightning strikes. Additionally, grounding the antenna cables helps dissipate any electrical charge that could damage the equipment.

 To ensure that the most critical APs at remote sites remain functional in the event of a failure, the Global AP Failover Priority feature can be used. By setting the priority of the most important APs to “critical”, these APs will be given precedence over others during a failover scenario. This allows the engineer to prioritize which APs should remain online without impacting the main site’s APs, which are set to a “high” priority.

 Metal doors cause the most signal attenuation in wireless design due to the properties of metal reflecting and absorbing radio waves, which can significantly reduce signal strength. Unlike materials such as cinder block or glass, metal can create a complete barrier for the signal, leading to a phenomenon known as “Faraday Cage” effect, where the metallic enclosure blocks electromagnetic fields. References: Designing Cisco Enterprise Wireless Networks (ENWLSD 300-425)

Access points can be assigned different failover priorities to determine the order in which they will failover in the event of a primary controller failure. An access point with priority 1 is given the highest priority level and is considered critical. This means it will failover before other access points with lower priorities, ensuring that the most critical areas remain covered.

To address the sticky client problem, setting an RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) threshold can help. This configuration will prompt clients to roam to a better AP when their signal strength falls below the set threshold, thus enhancing the roaming experience and ensuring clients are connected to the AP with the strongest signal available.

 For mobility tunneling through a firewall in a Cisco wireless network environment, UDP port 16666 must be open along with IP Protocol number ‘97’, which is used for Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) traffic typically found in IPsec tunnels. By ensuring these ports are mapped correctly through the firewall, R&D engineers can roam within their department while maintaining a secure mobility tunnel. References := (CCNP Enterprise Wireless Design ENWLSD 300-425 and Implementation ENWLSI 300-430 Official Cert Guide Premium Edition and Practice)

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 AP groups allow the mapping of specific WLANs (SSIDs) to distinct VLANs for different locations. This design enables clients to be on different subnets based on their building location without modifying the access points’ mode of operation.

When Client A roams from AP1 on WLC1 to AP2 on WLC2 across different subnets, this is considered a Layer 3 roam. Unlike Layer 2 roaming where the client’s database entry moves with them, in Layer 3 roaming, the client’s database entry is copied to the new controller (WLC2). This ensures continuity of service as Client A transitions between access points managed by different wireless LAN controllers. References := (CCNP Enterprise Wireless Design ENWLSD 300-425 and Implementation ENWLSI 300-430 Official Cert Guide Premium Edition and Practice)

 In a mining facility, especially within mine shafts where the environment can be long and narrow, an omnidirectional antenna is typically used for a Layer 2 survey. This type of antenna radiates RF signal equally in all directions, providing coverage along the length of the shaft.

The IEEE 802.11r protocol, also known as Fast BSS Transition (FT), is designed to support real-time applications by enabling faster roaming between APs. This protocol reduces the number of packets exchanged during the reauthentication process when a client moves from one AP to another, thus ensuring a more seamless transition and maintaining the quality of service required by real-time applications such as voice and video conferencing. References: Designing Cisco Enterprise Wireless Networks (ENWLSD 300-425)

 The most effective way to address the issue is to resurvey the areas with the correct survey devices. This ensures that the design accurately reflects the performance characteristics of the specified access points for each area type, leading to a more reliable and efficient wireless network design tailored to each environment’s specific needs.

 The issue described is indicative of a hidden node problem, where MAP-1 and MAP-3 cannot hear each other’s transmissions but can both communicate with RAP-2. This leads to frame collisions as both MAPs may attempt to transmit at the same time, unaware of the other’s actions. The design needs to address this by implementing mechanisms such as RTS/CTS or adjusting the placement of the APs to avoid this issue.

https://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/solutions/Enterprise/Mobility/emob30dg/WiMesh.pdf

The issue described indicates that there are more critical priority access points than the backup Cisco WLC can handle with its available licenses. Since there are only 10 licenses available and 7 access points are set to critical priority, not all of them can failover when the primary Cisco WLC is at full capacity. This oversubscription of critical priority access points prevents all of them from failing over as expected.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/7-4/configuration/guides/consolidated/b_cg74_CONSOLIDATED/b_cg74_CONSOLIDATED_chapter_010100001.html

By segmenting the VLAN into smaller subnets and assigning them by location, an engineer can use interface groups. This allows for efficient management of network resources and ensures that clients are connected to the closest subnet, reducing latency and improving performance.

In a high availability setup with Cisco 5508 Wireless LAN Controllers, the standby controller can be accessed via the console connection and the service port interface. The console provides direct access, while the service port interface allows for network-based access to the standby unit for management purposes.

 Changing the TPC Power Threshold to -65 dBm would generally result in a decrease in the transmit power of APs to maintain a smaller cell size. This helps in reducing interference and improving overall network performance. A lower threshold means the APs reduce their power to ensure the signal does not exceed -65 dBm, leading to decreased signal strength at the client side.

For a point-to-multipoint mesh network site survey, configuring the Rx power and Tx power is essential. Rx power will determine the sensitivity of the AP to incoming signals, which is crucial for understanding the reach of each mesh point. Tx power settings will influence the strength of the signals transmitted from the AP, affecting the network’s overall coverage. References: Designing Cisco Enterprise Wireless Networks (ENWLSD 300-425)

 Interface groups allow for flexible WLAN to VLAN mappings by grouping multiple interfaces into a single entity. This enables a single WLAN to be mapped to multiple VLANs, providing scalability and flexibility in network design. AP groups are used to manage the configuration of multiple APs collectively, allowing for consistent WLAN to VLAN mappings across different APs in separate facilities.

 The redundancy management heartbeat in Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers (WLCs) running 8.x code in Stateful Switch Over (SSO) mode uses UDP packets for communication. When troubleshooting connectivity issues between two WLCs, it is essential to filter for UDP packets in a packet capture to verify the heartbeat communication. The heartbeat packets are sent on a specific UDP port, and filtering for this port can help isolate the heartbeat traffic from other types of traffic in the capture.

The 5 GHz band is recommended for voice over wireless due to its wider channel bandwidths, allowing for higher data rates. Setting the cell boundary at -67 dBm ensures sufficient signal strength for reliable voice communication. References: CCNP Enterprise Wireless Design ENWLSD 300-425 Official Cert Guide.

For high availability pairing of two Cisco WLCs for client SSO, it is essential that both controllers have the same number of licenses to ensure feature parity and seamless failover. Additionally, they must run the same operating system version to avoid compatibility issues during SSO operations.

 The concern with existing gigabit uplinked switches providing 802.3at is the output power limitation. 802.11ac Wave 2 APs may require more power than what 802.3at can deliver, especially for features like Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO). References: CCNP Enterprise Wireless Design ENWLSD 300-425 and Implementation ENWLSI 300-430 Official Cert Guide.

 To ensure the anchored traffic remains up if a single WLC in the high-availability cluster fails, the mobility MAC address for the high-availability cluster should be configured. This allows the APs to recognize the cluster as a single entity, maintaining the CAPWAP tunnel to the anchor WLC in the DMZ even if one of the WLCs in the cluster fails.

The Cisco 5520 WLC supports Link Aggregation (LAG), which allows multiple physical interfaces to be treated as a single logical channel. By connecting a second 10-GB interface and implementing LAG, the customer can increase the throughput capacity and provide redundancy without the need for a second controller. This approach also simplifies network design and management by reducing the number of IP addresses needed for the controllers and APs. References: Designing Cisco Enterprise Wireless Networks (ENWLSD) training and certification materials.

 The AP fallback feature is designed to allow access points to return to their primary controller after they have connected to a secondary controller due to a failure or connectivity issue with the primary. This setting ensures that once the primary controller is back online, the APs will recognize it and re-establish their connection as per the original network design. This feature is crucial for maintaining the intended controller hierarchy and ensuring seamless wireless network operation.

For mobility tunnels to come up between WLCs, they need to be part of the same mobility group. If they are configured with different mobility groups, the mobility tunnels will not establish, preventing the WLCs from sharing client, AP, and security information.

The mesh backhaul link uses Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) for encryption. AES is a robust encryption standard that is widely used in various security protocols, including WPA2 and WPA3, to provide a high level of security for wireless communications. It ensures that the data transmitted over the mesh backhaul link is protected against unauthorized access and eavesdropping.

 In a historic building where aesthetics are important, using APs with integrated antennas can minimize visual impact as they are often designed to be compact and less conspicuous. Patch antennas are also a good choice as they can be mounted flat against surfaces, blending in with the environment while providing directional coverage.

In a Cisco wireless network, when designing for client roaming between access points (APs) that are connected to different controllers, especially in a global enterprise with multiple data centers, it is essential to ensure seamless client mobility. Mobility lists are used in such scenarios to define which controllers are allowed to participate in client roaming. This feature allows the APs connected to controllers within one group (e.g., Group ABC) to recognize and facilitate roaming clients from another group (e.g., Group XYZ). The mobility list is configured on each controller and includes the IP addresses of other controllers that should be considered part of the same mobility domain. When a client roams from an AP on one controller to an AP on another controller, if both controllers are in each other’s mobility list, they will establish a mobility tunnel through which they exchange the client’s context and security credentials. This ensures that the client can roam without re-authentication and maintains session continuity.

The behavior of guest client sessions in the US being anchored to the WLCs in Europe despite the presence of a local anchor WLC can be explained by the failure and subsequent recovery of the US anchor WLC. During the failure, the guest sessions would have been transferred to the European WLCs. After recovery, if the priority settings were not correctly restored or if the system did not automatically revert back to the local anchor, the sessions would remain anchored to the European WLCs3.

For accurate location services, it is recommended that each location-ready AP hears at least four other APs at a signal level of -75 dBm or better. This ensures sufficient signal overlap and triangulation accuracy for reliable client location tracking. References: Cisco’s guidelines on wireless network design for location services.

 In a Layer 1 passive wireless site survey, the chart that indicates the ratio of interference present during the duration of the capture in the 2.4 GHz spectrum is typically a Duty Cycle chart or an Interference chart. These charts display the percentage of time that energy, possibly from interfering sources, is present on a channel. The correct answer would show fluctuations in signal levels over time, highlighting periods where interference might be affecting the channel’s clarity.

 The protocol that needs to be allowed between the networks where the controllers are installed is IP Protocol 97, which is used for encapsulating IP within IP, often used in network mobility and IP tunneling.

When designing a wireless network for diverse clients, it’s crucial to ensure that the network will be reliable for all users. Therefore, surveys should be conducted with the client that has the worst RF characteristics, as indicated in option D. This approach ensures that the network is designed to support even the weakest client, thereby providing a consistent experience for all users. 

https://documentation.meraki.com/MR/WiFi_Basics_and_Best_Practices/Conducting_Site_Surveys_with_MR_Access_Points

When designing anchor redundancy for guest clients with auto-anchor configured on a WLC running version 8.1 or above, setting up Guest Anchor Priority ensures that one anchor is treated as active while another acts as standby rather than load-balancing clients between anchors which is not desired in this case. References := (CCNP Enterprise Wireless Design ENWLSD 300-425 and Implementation ENWLSI 300-430 Official Cert Guide Premium Edition and Practice)

 Cisco FastLocate technology is part of the Cisco Hyperlocation solution, which enhances location tracking accuracy and refresh rates. Implementing Cisco FastLocate technology can address issues with refresh rates for location updates in a custom mobile app by increasing the number of location data points captured, thus providing more frequent and accurate location updates.

References := AP4800 Hyperlocation Deployment Guide - Cisco

 In environments with high client density, deploying APs for 5 GHz coverage is recommended due to the larger number of non-overlapping channels available, which can support higher data rates and client capacity. Disabling the 2.4 GHz radios on some APs can reduce interference and improve overall network performance.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/technotes/86/b_Cisco_Wireless_LAN_Controller_Configuration_Best_Practices.html

When performing a Layer 1 survey using Metageek Chanalyzer, the Cisco CleanAIR AP should be configured in Monitor mode. This mode allows the AP to scan the environment for interference without serving clients.