* Flex Connect is a wireless solution which allows you to configure & control access points in remote/branch offices without configuring controller in each branch office over the wan link.
* FlexConnect is a wireless solution for branch office and remote office deployments.
* Flex Connect previously known as Hybrid Remote Edge Access Point.
* The FlexConnect access points (APs) can send client data traffic locally and perform client authentication locally. When they are connected to the controller, they can also send traffic back to the controller.
Flex Connect capable access point works in two modes,
Local Switched ( Flex Connect Mode) :
* Locally-switched WLAN’s (the SSID you are connected to) will map their wireless user traffic to a VLAN via 802.1Q trunking to a local switch adjacent to the access point.
* Traffic is forwarded using branch router in the network in this mode.
* In this mode, the AP can still function even if it loses connection with the controller.
* AP control/management-related traffic is sent to the centralized Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) separately via Control and Provisioning of Wireless Access Points protocol (CAPWAP).
* In simple terms, the data traffic is forwarded by the Branch Router and Management Traffic is handled by Wireless Controller.
* Minimum Bandwidth between the Acess Point in Branch office and Wireless Controller in Head Quarters need to be 128 Kbps and MTU should be 576 bytes.
* AP will be rebooted if we change the mode of Access Point from Central Switched to Local Switched Prior to 8.0 version of WLC.
* It is recommended that you use a FlexConnect group when deploying FlexConnect AP’s. Some features will not work if FlexConnect AP’s are not in a FlexConnect group, such as CCKM and local authentication.
* FlexConnect AP’s operate in connected mode or standalone mode. If a remote AP is able to reach the controller, it is in connected mode and if it is not able to reach the controller, it is in standalone mode.
Central Switched ( Local ) :
* In Central Switched Mode, an Access Point creates two CAPWAP tunnels to the Wireless Controller.
* One Tunnel is used for forwarding the data traffic and another one is used for forwarding the management traffic.
* If the user wants to access the resources within the branch (where that client is associated) then the data request is forwarded to the wireless controller in Head Quarters and returns back to the branch office.
* This might be the problem if the branch office is having less wan link speed.
* if the user in branch office needs to access services locally and centralized services better to configure local switching ( Flex Connect ) instead of Central Switching ( Local).
