Meru Networks ap400 User manual

Meru AP400
Installation Guide
Copyright © Meru Networks, Inc., 2003–2010. All rights reserved.
Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
April 2011
Document Number: 882-70016 Rev A Rel 4.1 Ver 1 AP400 Installation Guide

iii
MERU NETWORKS, INC.
Limited Product Warranty
This Limited Product Warranty applies to the original end-user customer of the Meru
product which you purchased for your own use, and not for resale (“Product”), from
Meru Networks, Inc. (“Meru”) or its authorized reseller (“Reseller”).
Limited Warranties
—One-year limited hardware warranty: Meru warrants to you that Meru
hardware (other than Third Party Products as described below) will be
free from defects in materials and workmanship for a one-year period
after the date of delivery of the applicable product to you from Meru or
its Reseller (the “Hardware Warranty Period”). If Meru receives written
notice from you of such defects during the Hardware Warranty Period,
Meru will, at its option, either repair or replace Meru hardware that
Meru determines to be defective. Replacement products may be
remanufactured units, and will be warranted for the remainder of the
original Hardware Warranty Period, or if greater, for thirty days from
delivery of such replacement. Should Meru be unable to repair or
replace the Meru hardware, Meru (or its Reseller, as applicable) will
refund to you the purchase price of the Product.
—90-Day Limited Software Warranty: Meru warrants to you that, for a 90-
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properly installed and used, (a) the media on which the Meru software
is provided will be free from defects in materials or workmanship; and
(b) the Meru software will substantially conform to the functional
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written notice from you of a breach of this warranty during the Software
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option, either repair or replace the defective Meru software. Should
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Reseller, as applicable) will refund to you the purchase price of the
Product.
Exclusions
The warranty on the Product shall not apply to defects resulting from the following:

iv Meru Access Point Installation Guide
—Alteration or modification of the Product in any way, including without
limitation configuration with software or components other than those
supplied by Meru or integration with parts other than those supplied by
Meru.
—Abuse, damage or otherwise being subjected to problems caused by
negligence or misapplication (including without limitation improper or
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(including without limitation damage caused by use of other than Meru
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limitation incompatible operating environments and systems), or
improper site preparation or maintenance.
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electromagnetic field, acts of nature or other causes beyond the control
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The warranty on the Product does not apply if the Product is sold, or in the case of
software, licensed, for free for evaluation or demonstration purposes.
Meru expressly disclaims any warranty or obligation to support the Product for all
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tion systems or other future software or hardware.
You understand and acknowledge that the Products may generate, use or radiate
radio frequency energy and may interfere with radio communications and/or radio
and television receptions if is not used and/or installed in accordance with the
documentation for such products. WHILE MERU USES COMMERCIALLY REASONABLE
EFFORTS TO ENSURE COMPLIANCE OF THE PRODUCTS WITH APPLICABLE UNITED
STATES FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION AND PROTECT AGAINST HARMFUL
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AND THAT MERU WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OR INCONVENIENCE BASED
ON SUCH INTERFERENCES.
Third Party Products - The above Limited Warranties are exclusive of products
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facturer provides a separate warranty with respect to the Third Party Product, Meru
will include such warranty in the packaging of the Meru Product.
Return procedures
To obtain warranty service you must: (a) obtain a return materials authorization
number (“RMA#”) from Meru by contacting [e-mail], and (b)
deliver the Product, in accordance with the instructions provided by Meru, along
with proof of purchase in the form of a copy of the bill of sale including the
Product’s serial number, contact information, RMA# and detailed description of the
defect, in either its original package or packaging providing the Product with a

v
degree of protection equivalent to that of the original packaging, to Meru at the
address below. You agree to obtain adequate insurance to cover loss or damage to
the Product during shipment.
If you obtain an RMA# and return the defective Product as described above, Meru
will pay the cost of returning the Product to Meru. Otherwise, you agree to bear
such cost, and prior to receipt by Meru, you assume risk of any loss or damage to
the Product. Meru is responsible for the cost of return shipment to you if the Meru
Product is defective.
Returned products which are found by Meru to be not defective, returned out-of-
warranty or otherwise ineligible for warranty service will be repaired or replaced
at Meru’s standard charges and shipped back to you at your expense.
At Meru’s sole option, Meru may perform repair service on the Product at your
facility, and you agree to provide Meru with all reasonable access to such facility
and the Product, as required by Meru. On-site repair service may be available and
is governed by the specific terms of your purchase.
All replaced parts, whether under warranty or not, are the property of Meru.
Warranty limitations
THE WARRANTIES SET FORTH ABOVE ARE EXCLUSIVE AND NO OTHER WARRANTY,
WHETHER WRITTEN OR ORAL, IS EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED BY MERU, TO THE MAXIMUM
EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. THERE ARE NO OTHER WARRANTIES RESPECTING THE
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WARE WARRANTY PERIODS DESCRIBED ABOVE.
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TIONS OF MERU.
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FREE OR OPERATE WITHOUT INTERRUPTION.
THE REMEDIESIN THIS LIMITED PRODUCT WARRANTY ARE YOUR SOLE ANDEXCLUSIVE
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WARE OR SOFTWARE WARRANTY SET FORTH ABOVE.
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You acknowledge and agree that the consideration which you paid to Meru does not
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RECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING
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vi Meru Access Point Installation Guide
COST OF COVER INCURRED BY YOU ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO YOUR PURCHASE
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AND ITS RESELLERS AND SHALL APPLY NOTWITHSTANDING ANY FAILURE OF ESSEN-
TIAL PURPOSE OF ANY LIMITED REMEDY.
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the extent permitted in such jurisdiction.
Additional Information
This Limited Product Warranty shall be governed by and construed in accordance
with the laws of the State of California, U.S.A., exclusive of its conflict of laws prin-
ciples. The U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods shall
not apply.
This Limited Product Warranty is the entire and exclusive agreement between you
and Meru with respect to its subject matter, and any modification or waiver of any
provision of this statement is not effective unless expressly set forth in writing by
an authorized representative of Meru.
All inquiries or claims made under this Limited Product Warranty must be sent to
Meru at the following address:
Meru Networks Inc.,
894 Ross Drive, CA 94087, USA
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected]

© 2010 Meru Networks, Inc. Contents vii
Contents
About This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix
Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Other Sources of Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Meru Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Website Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
External References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
Typographic Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
Contacting Meru . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Customer Services and Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Chapter 1 Access Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
AP400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Chapter 2 Installing AP400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Safety Precautions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Unpack the AP400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Determine Power Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
802.af PoE Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
802.3at PoE Usage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Installation Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Additional Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Install the AP400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Select a Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Attach the Provided Antennas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Install the Access Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Check AP400 LED Activity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Where to Go From Here . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Cautions and Warnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Cautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Warnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Regulatory Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
For AP400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
EMC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Safety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

viii Meru Access Point Installation Guide © 2010 Meru Networks, Inc.
Underwriters Laboratories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
FCC Radiation Exposure Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Radio Frequency Interference Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Canada. Industry Canada (IC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Europe—EU Declaration of Conformity and Restrictions . . . . . . . . 29
IEEE 802.11a Restrictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
EEE 802.11b/g Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Japan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Singapore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Manufacturing Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Supported PoEs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Supported Power Over Ethernet Devices for Meru APs . . . . . . . . . 33

© 2010 Meru Networks, Inc.About This Guide AboutThisGuide ix
About This Guide
This guide provides installation instructions for the Meru AP400s, which includes both
the AP400 and the AP400i models. The term access point is used interchangeably
throughout this document to apply to any model when there are no differences
among the models.
Audience
This guide is intended for anyone installing Meru Wireless LAN System Access Points
(APs).
Other Sources of Information
Additional information is available in the following Meru publications, Web site, and
external references.
Meru Publications
Meru System Director Release Notes
Meru System Director Getting Started Guide
Meru Controller Installation Guide
Meru System Director Command Reference
Meru System Director Configuration Guide
Website Resources
For the first 90 days after you buy a Meru controller, you have access to online
support. If you have a support contract, you have access for the length of the
contract. See this web site for information such as:
Meru System Director Release Notes
Knowledge Base (Q&A)

© 2010 Meru Networks, Inc.About This Guide AboutThisGuide x
Downloads
Open a ticket or check an existing one
Customer Discussion Forum
The URL is: http://support.merunetworks.com
Meru System Director Getting Started Guide
Meru Controller Installation Guide
Meru System Director Release Notes
Meru System Director Configuration Guide
Meru System Director Command Reference
External References
Stevens, W. R. 1994. TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume 1, The Protocols. Addison-Wesley,
Reading, Mass.
Gast, M.S. 2002. 802.11 Wireless Networks, The Definitive Guide. O’Reilly and
Associates, Sebastopol, Calif.
Typographic Conventions
This document uses the following typographic conventions to help you locate and
identify information:
Note:
Provides extra information, tips, and hints regarding the topic.
Caution!
Identifies important information about actions that could result in
damage to or loss of data, or could cause the application to behave in
unexpected ways.
Warning!
Identifies critical information about actions that could result in
equipment failure or bodily harm.

© 2010 Meru Networks, Inc.About This Guide AboutThisGuide xi
Contacting Meru
You can visit Meru Networks, Inc. on the Internet at this URL:
http://www.merunetworks.com
Customer Services and Support
For assistance, contact Meru Customer Services and Support 24 hours a day at
[phone] (+1-888-Meru-WLA(N)) or [phone]. Email can be sent to
[email protected].
Meru Networks, Inc. Customer Services and Support provide end users and channel
partners with the following:
Telephone technical support
Software update support
Spare parts and repair service
RMA Procedures
Contact Meru Customer Services and Support for a Return Material Authorization
(RMA) for any Meru equipment.
Please have the following available when making a call:
Company and contact information
Equipment model and serial numbers
Meru software release and revision numbers (for example, 3.0.0-35)
A description of the symptoms the problem is manifesting
Network configuration

© 2010 Meru Networks, Inc.About This Guide AboutThisGuide xii

© 2010 Meru Networks, Inc. AccessPoints 1
Chapter 1
Access Points
Access Points contain radio devices that communicate with the Meru Controller and
form the wireless LAN (WLAN). The Meru Controller and Access Points connect to the
site’s wired LAN through wired switches. Wireless clients associate with the Access
Points as they roam throughout the WLAN. As such, they are an extension of the wired
LAN, providing the wireless benefits of client mobility, enhanced access, and
dynamic network configuration.
Figure 1: Wireless LAN Connected to Network
Meru AP

2Meru Access Point Installation Guide © 2010 Meru Networks, Inc.
AP400
AP400
The AP400 Access Point series delivers high performance, full-speed, Wi-Fi certified
802.11n based on draft 2.0 connectivity while simultaneously supporting legacy
802.11a/b/g devices. AP400 is available in the configurations shown below.
AP400 Configurations
Features for the AP400 include:
802.11n support with channel bonding in both 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequency bands.
Channel bonding combines two 20Mhz channels into a single-wide 40Mhz channel
for increased throughput.
Dual-band external antenna options optimized for MIMO mode.
Plug and Play deployment using centralized controller platforms.
Multi-layered security including standard WPA2, 802.11i security (such as
automatic traffic inspection).
Each of these Access points may be powered by a standard 802.3af or 802.3at PoE
device. However, in order to utilize all three radios in 3x3 operation, 802.3at PoE
is required.
Air Traffic Control technology for 802.11n devices and legacy a/b/g devices
3x3 MIMO with 3 chains and 3 receive chains, delivering two spatial streams
Channel span architecture which requires no channel planning or configuration
Eight standard multiband, omni-directional antennas for AP433e.
Powered by 5 volt DC input, 802.3af compliant PoE device, or draft 802.3at
compliant PoE device.
Model Configuration
AP433e Three dual-band 802.11n radios with 3x3 MIMO and external
antennas.

AP400
© 2010 Meru Networks, Inc. AccessPoints 3
Figure 2: AP400
RESET
CONSOLE
G1
USB

4Meru Access Point Installation Guide © 2010 Meru Networks, Inc.
AP400

Safety Precautions
© 2010 Meru Networks, Inc. Installing AP400 5
Chapter 2
Installing AP400
This chapter describes how to install and configure an AP400. It contains the following sections:
Safety Precautions
Unpack the AP400
Determine Power Requirements
Installation Requirements
Install the AP400
Check AP400 LED Activity
Check AP400 LED Activity
Where to Go From Here
Safety Precautions
IMPORTANT—Read and follow the regulatory instructions in Appendix B before installing and operating
this product.
If an optional power supply is used, it must be one supplied by Meru Networks.
The AP400 is intended only for installation in Environment A as defined in IEEE 802.3af. All intercon-
nected equipment must be contained within the same building, including the interconnected equip-
ment's associated LAN connection.

6Meru Access Point Installation Guide © 2010 Meru Networks, Inc.
Unpack the AP400
Unpack the AP400
The AP400 series has the following model(s) as shown below.
Confirm that the AP400 shipping package contains these items:
AP400
Eight antennas
Wall mounting bracket
Rubber feet
Locking pin
Determine Power Requirements
Power requirements vary, depending on which AP400 radios are deployed and what MIMO mode is used.
See the chart below for supported power sources for different radio configurations.
802.af PoE Usage
When using System Director 3.6 (or later) and 802.3af PoE, Meru supports radios set to any MIMO
settings except 3x3 on three radios. This is because three radios set to 3x3 MIMO using an 802.3af
switch may not have enough power if the cable is too long. Shorter cables frequently work, however.
Meru supports:
Model Radios
AP433e Three a/b/g/n
Radio 1 MIMO Radio 2 MIMO Radio 3 MIMO 802.3af PoE 802.3at PoE DC Power
2x2 2x2 2x2 
2x2 3x3 3x3 
3x3 2x2 3x3 
3x3 3x3 3x3 

Installation Requirements
© 2010 Meru Networks, Inc. Installing AP400 7
Single or dual 3x3 radios
Three 2x2 radios
Three radios with one set to 2x2 and the other two set to 3x3
802.3at PoE Usage
When using System Director 3.6 (or later) and 802.3at, all possible configurations are supported. For
a list of supported PoEs, see the appendix Supported Power Over Ethernet Devices for Meru APs
Installation Requirements
An array of holes on the mounting bracket allows the AP400 to be mounted on the wall and over junc-
tion boxes or molly bolts. There are holes for passing the PoE Ethernet or external power supply cable
through the bracket if the bracket is mounted on a junction box.
The AP400 has a security cable slot so you can lock the AP400 with a standard security cable, such as
those used to secure laptop computers.
Purchase optional mounting kits to mount the AP400 either from the ceiling or inside an enclosure:
Above Suspended Ceiling Mounting Kit (T-Bar Hanger): ACC-MNT-ASCMKIT
Above hanging ceiling tiles. Suitable for use in environmental air space in accordance with the
Section 300-22(c) of the National Electric Code and Sections 2- 128.12 - 010 (3) and 12 - 100 of the
Canadian Electrical Code. Part 1. C22. 1.
To complete AP400 installation, you need the items listed below.
Installation Type Items Required
Horizontal mounting None
Vertical mounting over a wall
stud
Two #6 x 2" wood screws for a wood stud; or
Two #6 x 1½” metal screws for a metal stud
Mounting bracket
Vertical mounting on sheetrock
Two #6 x 1" screws
Two #4-6 x 7/8” ribbed plastic wall anchors
Mounting bracket

8Meru Access Point Installation Guide © 2010 Meru Networks, Inc.
Install the AP400
Additional Equipment
A power source is needed to power the AP400. See Determine Power Requirements.
Install the AP400
Select a Location
Attach the Provided Antennas
Install the Access Point
Select a Location
All AP400 interconnected equipment, including the associated LAN connection, must be contained
within the same building. In addition, the AP400 location should meet the following conditions:
Relatively unobstructed access to the stations the AP serves. Select a location with minimal physical
obstructions between the AP and the wireless stations. In an office with cubicles, mounting the APs
below a hanging ceiling (plenum is supported) or the wall near the ceiling provides the least
obstructed communications path. On a wall, orient the AP400 horizontally so that you can read the
Meru logo without tilting your head at 90 degrees - this orientation provides optimum MIMO
performance.
Access to wall outlet or a to a Power over Ethernet (PoE) connection to the network switch servicing
the controller.
We recommend planning for about 50 clients per radio (or per interference region) if you plan to
use Virtual Port and plan to have phones as clients. For a data-only installation, plan up to 128
clients per radio. Refer to the Meru Deployment Guides on the support site for more information.
AP400 is designed to provide 360 degree omni-directional coverage as illustrated below. Plan place-
ment with this pattern in mind.
Horizontal mounting below a
hanging ceiling
Two caddy fasteners
Two plastic spacers
Two keps nuts (with attached lock washer)
Mounting bracket
Mounting above a ceiling tile Mounting bracket ACC-MNT-ASCMKIT
Installation Type Items Required