Product Overview
Cisco® Aironet® 1200 Series access points deliver the investment protection, versatility, and enterprise-class features demanded by wireless LAN customers. It is designed specifically for challenging environments like factories, warehouses, and large retail establishments that require the antenna versatility associated with connectorized antennas, as well as a rugged metal enclosure and a broad operating temperature range.

The Cisco Aironet 1200 Series meets the needs of today's applications and protects future network infrastructure investments. The modular design of the 1200 Series provides a high-performance 802.11g configured access point that allows for either single- or dual-radio configuration. While the 802.11g-configured access point meets the needs of most customers and applications that may not have a current need for 802.11a, an easy 802.11a upgrade kit is available, to increase scalability and performance with complete backward compatibility for legacy clients.

The Cisco Aironet 1200 Series is a component of the Cisco Unified Wireless Network, a comprehensive solution that delivers an integrated, end-to-end wired and wireless network. Using the radio and network management features of the Cisco Unified Wireless Network for simplified deployment, the Cisco Aironet 1200 Series extends the security, scalability, reliability, ease of deployment, and manageability available in wired networks to the wireless LAN.

The Cisco Aironet 1200 Series is available in two versions: unified or autonomous. Unified access points operate with the Lightweight Access Point Protocol (LWAPP) and work in conjunction with Cisco wireless LAN controllers and the Cisco Wireless Control System (WCS). When configured with LWAPP, the Cisco Aironet 1200 Series can automatically detect the best-available Cisco wireless LAN controller and download appropriate policies and configuration information with no manual intervention. Autonomous access points are based on Cisco IOS® Software and may optionally operate with the CiscoWorks Wireless LAN Solution Engine (WLSE). Autonomous access points, along with the CiscoWorks WLSE, deliver a core set of features and may be field-upgraded to take advantage of the full benefits of the Cisco Unified Wireless Network as requirements evolve.

The Cisco Aironet 1200AG Series has achieved National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) FIPS 140-2 level 2 validation and is in process for Common Criteria validation under the National Information Assurance Partnership (NIAP) program. The Cisco Aironet 1200 Series supports 802.11i, Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2), WPA, and numerous Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) types. WPA and WPA2 are the Wi-Fi Alliance certifications for interoperable, standards-based wireless LAN security. These certifications support IEEE 802.1X for user-based authentication, Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) for WPA encryption, and Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) for WPA2 encryption. These certifications help to ensure interoperability between Wi-Fi-certified wireless LAN devices from different manufacturers.
The Cisco Aironet 1200 Series hardware-accelerated AES encryption supports enterprise-class, government-grade secure encryption over the wireless LAN without compromising performance. IEEE 802.1X authentication helps to ensure that only authorized users are allowed on the network. The series also provides backward compatibility and support for WPA client devices running TKIP, the RC4 encryption algorithm.

Cisco Aironet 1200 Series Access Points operating with LWAPP support Cisco Unified Intrusion Detection System/Intrusion Prevention System (IDS/IPS), a software feature that is part of the Cisco Self-Defending Network and is the industry's first integrated wired and wireless security solution. Cisco Unified IDS/IPS takes a comprehensive approach to security-at the wireless edge, wired edge, WAN edge, and through the data center. When an associated client sends malicious traffic through the Cisco Unified Wireless Network, a Cisco wired IDS device detects the attack and sends shun requests to Cisco wireless LAN controllers, which will then disassociate the client device.

Autonomous or unified Cisco Aironet 1200 Series Access Points support management frame protection for the authentication of 802.11 management frames by the wireless network infrastructure. This allows the network to detect spoofed frames from access points or malicious users impersonating infrastructure access points. If an access point detects a malicious attack, an incident will be generated by the access point and reports will be gathered on the Cisco wireless LAN controller, Cisco WCS, or CiscoWorks WLSE.
Benefits and Features

Investment Protection for Future Network Needs
With large storage capacity and support for Cisco management tools, the Cisco Aironet 1200 Series provides the capacity and the means to upgrade firmware and deliver new features as they become available. For additional investment protection, the Cisco Aironet 1200 Series comes complete with an integrated mounting system that secures the device using the customer's choice of laptop security cables or standard padlocks. The reliability of the 802.11g solution makes the Cisco Aironet 1200 Series a wise investment for enterprise customers. It provides field-proven reliability, featuring a Cisco Aironet fifth-generation 2.4 GHz radio. An available 802.11a radio module upgrade maximizes capacity and performance, delivering up to 54 Mbps data rates on all 12 available channels and allowing the wireless network to scale to accommodate a large number of users. With the Cisco Aironet 1200 Series, a single access point can operate one radio for 802.11b/g clients, while supporting new users by adding a second 802.11a radio to scale network performance and capacity.

Installation Options Increase Flexibility
The Cisco Aironet 1200 Series access point and integrated mounting system are designed for installation on walls, below ceilings, and, with its plenum ratable metal case, above suspended ceilings. With its broad operating temperature range and cast-aluminum housing, this device provides the ruggedness required in factories, warehouses, and the most challenging environments. Support for inline power over Ethernet (PoE) and local power maximizes powering option flexibility.

All available radios (802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g) provide a variety of transmit power settings to adjust coverage area size. To extend the flexibility of deployments, the 802.11a radio module is available in two versions (Figure 1). Both versions provide up to 12 nonoverlapping channels in the 5 GHz band (subject to local regulations); an additional 11 will become available in 2005 with a field firmware upgrade. One version offers dual antenna connectors for use with a wide variety of Cisco antennas to achieve extended range and application-specific coverage. The second has an integrated antenna design that incorporates diversity omnidirectional (5 dBi) and patch antennas (9 dBi). For ceiling, desktop, or other horizontal installations, the integrated omnidirectional antenna provides an optimal coverage pattern and maximum range. For wall-mount installations, the patch antenna provides a hemispherical coverage pattern that uniformly directs the radio energy from the wall and across the room. Both the omnidirectional and patch antennas provide diversity for maximum reliability, even in high-multipath environments such as offices and other indoor environments. Coupled with the broadest selection of 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz antennas in the industry, this provides users with unparalleled flexibility in cell size and coverage patterns.