UUID info element for LANCOM WLAN access points

All current LANCOM access points have multi-SSID capability. This means that they can simultaneously present different 'virtual' access points to their WLAN clients.

For devices with two radio modules (dual radio), the BSSIDs relate to the logical networks on the corresponding radio module. However, the MAC addresses of the two radio modules are completely independent of one another. Consequently, logical networks with different BSSIDs cannot be unequivocally related to a single device.

However, for the planning and monitoring of networks, it is often desirable to be able to relate logical networks to their respective devices (or radio modules).

LANCOM access points support an Aironet-compatible information element that contains the name of the device as assigned to it by the administrator. The transmission of this information is optional and many operators disable it for security reasons because they want to publish as little information as possible about the access point on the network.

Thus, this information either does not appear for network monitoring at all or, depending on the setting, the information may not identify the device as a LANCOM access point.

Besides this, LANCOM access points possess a UUID (universally unique identifier), which is calculated from the device type and serial number and can identify the device uniquely on the network. By using encryption when generating the UUID, the device type or serial number can only be inferred with considerable effort (brute-force attack for all types of devices and serial numbers).

Transmission of the UUID can be switched on or off independent of the radio module and logical network.

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