Lab Scenario
A small organization wants to segregate its network users into multiple VLANs for security and management purposes. Each VLAN is mapped to a dedicated SSID so that wireless users automatically connect to the correct network segment.
The goal of this lab is to configure multiple VLANs and multiple SSIDs on a network consisting of one Gateway, one Switch, and one Access Point (AP).
Requirements :
Each department or user group should have a dedicated VLAN.
Each VLAN should be assigned a separate IP pool from the Gateway.
The Switch should carry all VLAN traffic between the Gateway and the Access Point.
The Access Point should broadcast multiple SSIDs, each mapped to a specific VLAN.
VLAN–SSID–Subnet Mapping :
SSID | VLAN | Gateway IP | Subnet (assumed) |
---|---|---|---|
Guest | 10 | 10.10.10.1 | 10.10.10.0/24 |
Employee | 20 | 10.20.20.1 | 10.20.20.0/24 |
VIP | 30 | 10.30.30.1 | 10.30.30.0/24 |
Finance | 40 | 10.40.40.1 | 10.40.40.0/24 |
Devices in the Lab :
Gateway – Provides WAN connectivity (connected to ISP) and handles VLAN creation and IP pools.
Switch – Passes VLAN traffic between Gateway and AP.
Access Point – Broadcasts multiple SSIDs, each tagged with its respective VLAN.
Objective :
By the end of this lab, the network should have:
Four VLANs (10, 20, 30, 40) created on the Gateway and Switch.
Four SSIDs (Guest, Employee, VIP, Finance) configured on the AP, each mapped to its VLAN.
Devices connecting to SSIDs should receive IP addresses from the correct VLAN subnet and be isolated from other VLANs.
Step-by-Step GATEWAY Configuration :
Step 1:
Onboard the Gateway and connect its WAN interface to the ISP.
Step 2:
Connect the Gateway’s LAN-1 port to the Switch.
Go to Network Interface settings and create VLAN 10 under VLAN Configuration.
In the Port Configuration section, select LAN-1 to allow the Gateway to pass VLAN 10 traffic through that port.
STEP 3:
Enter the IP pool you want to assign to that VLAN.
STEP 4:
Repeat the same configuration for VLANs 20, 30, and 40 as done for VLAN 10.
Step-by-Step SWITCH Configuration :
Step 1:
- Configure all required VLANs in switch and assign them IP addresses.
- Instead of manually configuring static IPs, we will let the switch obtain IP addresses automatically from the Gateway’s DHCP server.
- This ensures that the switch gets an IP in the 10.10.10.0/24 subnet (from the Gateway configuration), allowing it to communicate with devices and the Gateway in VLAN 10.
- The same steps should be repeated for VLANs 20, 30, and 40 so that each VLAN interface receives an IP from the Gateway automatically.
Step 2:
- Connect any port of Switch to Gateway’s LAN-1 port so that it can pass all VLANs. Here we are taking port 0/16 of switch.
- Suppose SWITCH's PORT 0/16 with GATEWAY's LAN-1.
- Configure PORT 0/16 as TRUNK and allow all VLANs (10,20,30 and 40).
Step 3:
- Connect any port of Switch to AP's WAN port so that AP can get online.
- Suppose SWITCH's PORT 0/15 with AP WAN.
- Configure PORT 0/15 as TRUNK and allow all VLANs (10,20,30 and 40).
- For getting AP online, here we need to define any VLAN as a native.
- Taking VLAN 10 as a NATIVE for getting AP IP from it.
Step 4:
Check VLAN's are created as required and they are getting IP from the given IP pool.
Step-by-Step AP Configuration :
STEP 1:
- For getting AP online, we need to create bypass policy.
- Create QUOTA policy, attached it into security policy and enable BYOD in security group.
- Attached Security group in WLAN.
STEP 2:
- Go to Client, click on assign group. Assign Bypass group to AP's MAC.
STEP 3:
- Define WAN for AP with VLAN 10 (Because we have select VLAN 10 as a native).
- AP will get IP from VLAN 10 and gets online.
- Ap will get online.
STEP 4:
- After AP gets online configure WAN policy for all VLAN's same as we have done for VLAN 10.
Step-by-Step WLAN (SSID) Configuration :
STEP 1: Guest SSID (VLAN 10)
- Create WLAN with the desired name (Guest).
- Select Security Group.
- In NETWORK INTERFACE select GATEWAY's ( LAN profile ) in gateway section and AP's ( WAN profile ) in Bridge No firewall section. Select both profile of VLAN-10.
- Both profile should be of same VLAN which have to be broadcast.
STEP 2: Employee SSID (VLAN 20)
- Create WLAN with the desired name (Employee).
- Select Security Group.
- In NETWORK INTERFACE, select GATEWAY’s (LAN profile) in the gateway section and AP’s (WAN profile) in the Bridge No Firewall section. Select both profiles of VLAN-20.
- Both profiles should be of the same VLAN that has to be broadcast.
STEP 3: VIP SSID (VLAN 30)
- Create WLAN with the desired name (VIP).
- Select Security Group.
- In NETWORK INTERFACE, select GATEWAY’s (LAN profile) in the gateway section and AP’s (WAN profile) in the Bridge No Firewall section. Select both profiles of VLAN-30.
- Both profiles should be of the same VLAN that has to be broadcast.
STEP 4: Finance SSID (VLAN 40)
- Create WLAN with the desired name (Finance).
- Select Security Group.
- In NETWORK INTERFACE, select GATEWAY’s (LAN profile) in the gateway section and AP’s (WAN profile) in the Bridge No Firewall section. Select both profiles of VLAN-40.
- Both profiles should be of the same VLAN that has to be broadcast.