HPE Aruba AP-518 (US) Hardened Bluetooth Wi-Fi Dual Band Wireless

• Incredible efficiency
• Advantages of OFDMA
• Aruba air slice for extended OFDMA assurance
• Multi-User MIMO (MU-MIMO)
• Wi-Fi 6 and MU-MIMO aware client optimization
• Aruba advanced cellular coexistence
• Intelligent power monitoring
• Green AP energy efficiency
• IoT Platform capabilities
• Target wake time (TWT)
• WPA3 and enhanced open
• VPN tunnels
• Trusted platform module (TPM)
• Simple and secure access
• High-density connectivity
• Flexible operation and management
• Controller-less (Instant) mode
• Mobility controller mode
• Management options

Extra Features

• The 518 Series APs are also designed to optimize user experience by maximizing Wi-Fi efficiency and dramatically reducing airtime contention between clients. Features include Uplink and Downlink Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), Downlink Multi-User MIMO (MU MIMO) and cellular co-location. With up to 4 spatial stream and 160 MHz channel capability the 518 provides groundbreaking wireless capabilities for any application.
• This capability allows Aruba Wi-Fi 6 APs to handle multiple Wi-Fi 6 enabled client simultaneously on a single radio. Channel utilization is optimized by handling each transaction by matching allocated bandwidth in a channel to the offered user load.
• APs in controller-less mode (Instant) can provide SLA-grade performance by allocating RUs to specific traffic types. By combining Aruba’s Policy Enforcement Firewall (PEF) and Layer 7 deep packet inspection (DPI) to identify user roles and applications, the APs will dynamically allocate the bandwidth needed. Non-Wi-Fi 6 clients can also benefit.
• The 518 Series APs support downlink MU-MIMO similar to Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac Wave 2) APs. With the introduction OFDMA in Wi-Fi 6 the overhead for this capability is reduced and MU-MIMO effectiveness is substantially improved for large client counts.
• Aruba’s patented AI-powered ClientMatch technology ensures that all clients are attached to their best serving access point. Session metrics, network metrics, applications, client type, are used to identify and maintain best connection.
• This feature uses built in filtering to automatically minimize the impact of interference of high power cellular base stations, in building distributed antenna systems as well as small cell and femtocell equipment.
• Aruba APs continuously monitor and report hardware energy consumption. APs can be configured to enable or disable capabilities based on the available PoE power – ideal when wired switches have exhausted their power budget.
• Aruba Wi-Fi 6 APs utilize analytics from Aruba Central to automatically transition in and out of a sleep mode.
• Aruba Wi-Fi 6 APs include an integrated Bluetooth 5 and 802.15.4 radio (for Zigbee support) to simplify deploying and managing IoT-based location services, asset tracking services, security solutions and IoT sensors. This allow organizations to leverage the 518 as an IoT platform, which eliminates the need for an overlay infrastructure and additional IT resources.
• Ideal for IoT solutions that communicate infrequently, this Wi-Fi 6 capability allows IoT devices to use 802.11ax protocol. TWT coordinates with client devices to allow them to sleep for extended periods use shorter wake times to communicate before returning to sleep. This substantially extends the useful operating life of Wi-Fi 6 based battery powered sensors.
• With the introduction of WPA3 and Enhanced open a Wi-Fi 6 certified client will never send unencrypted traffic over the air. Even with an open authenticated network enhanced open still provides strong encryption over the air. In all Wi-Fi 6 user sessions each user is uniquely encrypted and if they disconnect and reconnect the encryption changes from session to session.
• In Remote AP (RAP) and IAP-VPN deployments, the Aruba 518 can be used to establish a secure SSL/IPSec VPN tunnel to a Mobility Controller that is configured as a VPN concentrator.
• For enhanced device assurance, all Aruba APs have an installed TPM for secure storage of credentials, keys and boot code.
• To simplify policy enforcement, the Aruba 518 uses Aruba’s policy enforcement firewall (PEF) features to encapsulate all traffic from the AP to the Mobility Controller (Gateway) for end-to-end encryption and inspection. Policies are applied based on context including: user role, device type, application, and location. This reduces the manual configuration of SSIDs, VLANs, and ACLs. PEF also serves as the underlying technology for Aruba Dynamic Segmentation.
• Each 518 Series AP provides connectivity for a maximum of 512 associated clients per radio (1,024 total).
• A unique feature of Aruba APs is the ability to operate in either controller less or controller-based mode.
• In controller-less mode, one AP serves as a virtual controller for the entire network.
• For optimized network performance, roaming and security, APs tunnel all traffic to a mobility controller for central management of traffic forwarding, segmentation, encryption, and policy enforcement.
• Available management solution include Aruba Central, cloud based, or Aruba AirWave, a multi-vendor, on-premises, management solution. For large installations across multiple sites, Aruba APs can be shipped and activated with Zero Touch Provisioning through Aruba Central or AirWave. This reduces deployment time, centralizes configuration, and provide inventory visibility.