Frequently Asked Questions
Contents
IntelaWave Control Center and IntelaWave Network Architecture
IntelaWave APs
IntelaWave Control Center
Overview
How much does IntelaWave Control Center cost?
IntelaWave Control Center is now bundled with IntelaWave APs. We offer IntelaWave AP Kits that include anywhere from two to ten APs, and the corresponding number of AP licenses for IntelaWave Control Center. As you add more APs to your wireless network, you simply add new AP licenses your IntelaWave Control Center server.
If I purchase IntelaWave Control Center with a one AP license and later buy more AP 160s, will the new APs come with additional licenses for the Control Center?
If you purchase HotSpot Kits or HotZone Kits, licenses are bundled with the APs. For example, you can buy a two AP HotSpot Kit (two AP 160s and two IntelaWave Control Center licenses) for $599. As you purchase more kits, the AP licenses can be added to your existing IntelaWave Control Center server.
If additional licenses are required, how much will they cost, and how can they be added to the Control Center?
You can purchase APs and IntelaWave Control Center licenses à la carte. A single IntelaWave Control Center license costs $299. When you purchase additional AP licenses, you can add them to your IntelaWave Control Center server. You can also move AP licenses from one IntelaWave Control Center server to another.
What are the primary features of IntelaWave Control Center?
Easy centralized administration of wireless networks, access points, and subscribers
Multi-domain architecture—you can run several wireless networks, each of which has a separate administrative interface
Built-in authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) of end-users
Centralized configuration and status monitoring of IntelaWave-Powered APs connected behind firewalls, on private LANs, or on any network with a route to the Internet
Real-time telemetry and historical reporting of end-user and AP bandwidth usage in hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly intervals
Modules extend IntelaWave Control Center’s functionality for pre-paid card authentication, RADIUS server integration, and more
Is a trial version of IntelaWave Control Center available?
No, however an online demo version is available here.
Installation (Top)
Can I get IntelaWave Control Center on CD-ROM?
No; IntelaWave Control Center is easily installed and updated over the Internet. The Installation Guide presents a good view of the process. All you need to do is run an installation script, everything else is taken care of automatically. After install of the core software, there is a separate step to install add-on Modules, also described in the Guide.
If you want us to take care of the entire installation for you (after you have your Linux server ready and assigned a fully-qualified domain name), we can do that for you for the cost of one support incident ($185).
Usage (Top)
Which aspects of the system are secure/encrypted?
All communication between IntelaWave Control Center and the administrator or end-user browsers are encrypted via SSL. Housekeeping communications between IntelaWave Control Center and the IntelaWave AP are not encrypted via SSL due to limited flash memory size in current IntelaWave APs. However, future versions of the IntelaWave Agent will support encryption for all housekeeping communication between the IntelaWave-Powered APs and IntelaWave Control Center.
What is the default username/password for IntelaWave Control Center’s system administrator?
The default username and password are “admin” and “IntelaWave”. Remember to change your password!
What is the IntelaWave Control Center server’s root password?
There is no default. It's whatever the system administrator chose when installing the operating system.
Does IntelaWave Control Center include a billing system?
No. However, RADIUS server integration is available as an additional module. Many third-party billing systems use RADIUS. Further, IntelaWave Control Center’s database schema is open and documented to enable integration with billing systems.
Does IntelaWave Control Center integrate with third-party billing systems?
Yes. See above.
What third-party authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) systems are supported?
Authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) functions are built into the IntelaWave Control Center server. IntelaWave Control Center’s schemas are open, facilitating integration with third-party AAA solutions for authentication (e.g. RADIUS, LDAP, Active Directory), authorization (e.g. a user-based policy database), and/or accounting (e.g. a billing and/or network management system).
The IntelaWave Module for RADIUS enables IntelaWave Control Center to work with an external, third-party RADIUS server.
Can IntelaWave Control Center limit end-user access, for example when users have met a daily/weekly/monthly bandwidth allotment?
Yes.
Does the IntelaWave architecture support roaming?
Yes. Users can authenticate on any IntelaWave-Powered AP managed by an instance of IntelaWave Control Center, no matter where the AP they’re associated with is located.
How many APs can IntelaWave Control Center manage?
A reasonably equipped server should easily support hundreds of APs and thousands of users. IntelaWave Control Center is designed to scale; its internal database can be replaced by clustered relational database servers, for example.
Can the captive portal page be customized?
Yes, you can fully customize the text and graphics of the portal page.
Can I replace the IntelaWave captive portal with my own web page?
Yes.
Can I redirect users to a specific web page once they have logged in?
Yes. IntelaWave Control Center lets you define a custom redirect URL.
Can I create a “walled garden” of web sites allowed before the user authenticates?
Yes. IntelaWave Control Center lets you define walled gardens.
Can different APs use different captive portal, redirect pages, and walled gardens?
Yes.
The logout screen is a pop-up window. What if the end-user blocks pop-up windows?
We recommend that end-users not block pop-up windows when accessing IntelaWave-Powered networks. However, if they do, they will be logged out when their session times out due to inactivity.
Can I remove the IntelaWave logo from the portal page or pop-up window?
Yes, you can remove the IntelaWave logo and other IntelaWave branding from all customer-facing web pages. Take a look at our Knowledgebase, the article titled "Remove IntelaWave Powered Logo".
IntelaWaveNet (Top)
Overview
What is the difference between IntelaWaveNet and IntelaWave Control Center?
The software is the same. (See above for questions and answers about IntelaWave Control Center.) The difference is, with IntelaWaveNet we run an "instance" of IntelaWave Control Center in our data center. You can then "subscribe" one or more APs to IntelaWaveNet. You don't need to set up or maintain a server, or manage a data center.
How many APs can I subscribe to my IntelaWaveNet Account?
Hundreds, easily. We haven't hit the limit, yet.
How do I subscribe an AP to IntelaWaveNet?
When you set up your IntelaWaveNet Account, you give it a name. Then you enter the name in the IntelaWave Control Center field of your AP's web-based interface in the following format: yourname@scc01.wifi.IntelaWave.com, where "yourname" is the name of your IntelaWaveNet Account. The AP will then automatically find IntelaWaveNet over the Internet and become managed by your IntelaWaveNet Account.
How do I manage my IntelaWaveNet APs?
Browse to https://scc01.wifi.IntelaWave.com/yourname/admin/ where "yourname" is the name of your IntelaWaveNet Account.
Can I manage any AP with IntelaWaveNet?
No, the AP must be IntelaWave-Powered (run the IntelaWave Agent) such as the AP 160.
What is my IntelaWaveNet username and password?
They were emailed to you when your IntelaWaveNet Account was activated.
What if I lose my IntelaWaveNet username/password?
Go to your IntelaWaveNet My Account page.
What is the username and password to manage my IntelaWaveNet Account?
The same as your IntelaWave Store username and password. You can retrieve a lost IntelaWave Store password here.
Can I run multiple wireless networks on IntelaWaveNet, each with different administrative views, as with IntelaWave Control Center?
No, each IntelaWaveNet Account has only one administrator. You can, of course, have multiple IntelaWaveNet Accounts, each managing a distinct wireless network, and each with a secure administrative interface.
Can I manage many different locations, with different logins and back-end authentication methods, from the same IntelaWaveNet Account?
Yes, flexibility down to the level of each AP allows you to manage all your wireless locations from the same administrative interface, yet configure them to be as distinct and unique as desired, or completely the same. It all depends on the whether you want to promote the brand of the location, the region, or your own brand across all locations.
How often is IntelaWaveNet data backed up?
Daily.
What is the IntelaWaveNet uptime guarantee?
IntelaWave provides a 99% Limited Uptime Guarantee, which applies only to Service Interruptions directly related to IntelaWave facilities and does not cover situations or faults beyond IntelaWave's control, such as general Internet access problems. SLA objectives apply only to Service Interruptions that are not the result of scheduled service downtime. For more information see the IntelaWaveNet Service Agreement.
If I use IntelaWaveNet, and later decide to run IntelaWave Control Center, can I export the data out of IntelaWaveNet?
Yes.
IntelaWave Module for RADIUS (Top)
How does it work?
The IntelaWave Module for RADIUS works with IntelaWave Control Center to enable service providers to authenticate and collect data for users on an external, third-party RADIUS server. Using the IntelaWave Module for RADIUS is simple: enter server credentials and the addresses of the authentication server and the accounting server. Detailed accounting information collected by IntelaWave Control Center is then passed to the RADIUS server, allowing service providers to use their choice of billing systems.
IntelaWave AP 160
Overview (Top)
What are the operating characteristics of the IntelaWave AP 160?
The IntelaWave AP 160 is FCC certified under part 15 to operate in the 2.4GHz ISM band. It supports IEEE802.11g/b. It includes a 10/100 Ethernet interface for connecting to the wired WAN, and four Ethernet LAN interfaces. IntelaWave Control Center manages both wireless and wired interfaces. For more information see the IntelaWave AP 160 Data Sheet.
What is the range of the IntelaWave AP 160?
802.11g Radio
54 Mbps at a radius of up to 195 feet (60 meters).
48 Mbps at a radius of up to 225 feet (70 meters).
36 Mbps at a radius of up to 260 feet (80 meters).
12 Mbps at a radius of up to 390 feet (120 meters).
802.11b Radio
11 Mbps at a radius of up to 260 feet (80 meters).
5.5 Mbps at a radius of up to 390 feet (120 meters).
2 Mbps at a radius of up to 655 feet (200 meters).
1 Mbps at a radius of up to 980 feet (300 meters).
Installation (Top)
How do I access the IntelaWave AP 160’s built-in web interface?
Associate with the IntelaWave AP 160 using any 802.11g/b client, open a browser and go to http://192.168.190.1.
Can I password-protect the AP’s web interface to prevent unauthorized access?
The local web interface on the AP 160 is automatically closed to unauthorized access. Once the AP 160 finds the IntelaWave Control Center server, all port access to the local web interface, snmp and telnet are blocked (unless a special flag is set by the IntelaWave Control Center administrator). However, if an end-user who belongs to the admin group associates with the AP, those ports are allowed. Prior to the AP being managed by the IntelaWave Control Center server, the web port is left open for troubleshooting access. For more information, see the IntelaWave AP 160 Administrator Manual.
How do you configure a IntelaWave-Powered access point to work with IntelaWave Control Center?
IntelaWave-Powered access points are designed to find IntelaWave Control Center and configure themselves automatically. You only need to enter the fully qualified domain name of your IntelaWave Control Center server into the IntelaWave Control Center Config page of the AP’s local web interface.
By default, a IntelaWave-Powered AP obtains its IP address and local network parameters from a DHCP server. If no DHCP server is available on the LAN, the network administrator will need to manually set a static IP address and other network parameters using the access point’s built-in web interface.
For more information about configuring the IntelaWave AP 160, check out the IntelaWave AP 160 Administrator Manual.
Usage (Top)
I have Linksys/D-Link/Netgear (fill-in-the-blank) access points. Can they be used in a IntelaWave network?
Yes. Any 3rd party AP (in bridge mode) can extend off one of the four LAN ports of the IntelaWave AP 160 (or connect to it via the wireless LAN in WDS mode) to extend the range of the access-controlled wireless network. The IntelaWave AP 160s (or IntelaWave AP 120s) and a IntelaWave Control Center server provide the keys to access control, captive portal login pages with your brand, usage tracking, etc.
Does the IntelaWave AP 160 support PPPoE?
PPPoE is not supported at this time. If the AP 160 loses PPPoE connectivity, it does not recover well, but we are working on a fix to this problem.
What security features does the IntelaWave AP 160 implement?
Captive portal to enforce secure authentication (username, password).
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) 64 & 128 bit standard IEEE802.11 security software. (Turned off by default.)
WiFi-Protected Access (WPA)
VPN pass-through. (Preferred security method.)
What “mode” does the IntelaWave AP 160 run in?
It runs in BSS (“infrastructure”) mode, acting like a typical AP.
Does the IntelaWave AP 160 support WDS?
Yes.
Does the IntelaWave AP 160 accommodate a range-extending antenna or be used outdoors?
Yes the antenna can be changed (reverse-polarity SMA connector), but no, it is not designed for outdoor use. You can link to an outdoor wireless bridge using the 4-port LAN or WDS, however. IntelaWave is actively encouraging access point OEMs to incorporate the IntelaWave Agent into a wide variety of APs.
Can I exclude users based on MAC address?
Yes.
IntelaWave AP 200
Overview (Top)
What are the operating characteristics of the IntelaWave AP 200?
The IntelaWave AP 200 is FCC certified under part 15 to operate in the 2.4GHz ISM band. It supports IEEE802.11b. It includes a 10/100 Ethernet interface for connecting to the wired LAN. For more information, refer to the IntelaWave AP 200 data sheet.
Does the IntelaWave AP 200 run the IntelaWave Agent?
Not yet, it currently bridges IP traffic from the LAN side of the AP 120 (using WDS) or the AP160 (using WDS or by being plugged into the 4-port LAN).
How does the IntelaWave AP 200 work with IntelaWave Control Center?
The AP 160 gateways authentication and tracking data to the IntelaWave Control Center since the AP 200 does not include the IntelaWave Agent at this time.
What is the range of the IntelaWave AP 200?
Up to 5000 meters outdoors without obstructions (from one AP 200 to another AP 200.) The range to a client device varies depending on the specifications of that client WiFi equipment (see our RF Propagation Basics white paper.)
Installation (Top)
How do I access the IntelaWave AP 200’s built-in web interface?
When it is pre-configured as a wireless bridge to work in conjunction with the AP 160, the web interface is not available. However, if you hold down the reset button (inside the unit) for about 8 seconds, it will reset to factory default settings with a static IP address of http://192.168.0.1, username and password of root and root. Don't forget to change the TCP/IP Address settings back to DHCP when you're done configuring other settings (after a factory default reset).
Can I password-protect the AP’s web interface to prevent unauthorized access?
Yes (but see comment above). The username and password defaults to root and root but can be changed through the web interface.
Usage (Top)
What security features does the IntelaWave AP 200 implement?
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) 64 & 128 bit standard IEEE802.11 security software. (Turned off by default.)
VPN pass-through. (Preferred security method.)
What “mode” does the IntelaWave AP 200 run in?
It runs in wireless bridge or WDS modes in order to extend the range of a IntelaWave AP 120 or IntelaWave AP 160.
How many IntelaWave AP 200s can be connected to a AP 160?
No real limit. It is only limited with respect to the end-user experience to the Internet backhaul speed.
Do you need a IntelaWave Control Center license for each AP 200, AP 160, or both?
No, you only need a license for each AP 160. The AP 200 doesn’t run the IntelaWave Agent so it doesn’t “count” for licenses—think of it as a range extender for the AP 160, which is managed by IntelaWave Control Center.
Can I operate the IntelaWave AP 200 in both bridge and AP mode simultaneously?
No, it should only be in bridge mode to work with another IntelaWave-Powered access gateway.
Does the IntelaWave AP 200 accommodate a range-extending antenna or be used outdoors?
Yes. The AP 200 includes an industry-standard N-type connector (female) for connecting with standard wireless antennas.
Can I exclude users based on MAC address?
Yes.
IntelaWave AP 250 Dual Radio
Overview (Top)
What are the operating characteristics of the IntelaWave AP 200?
The IntelaWave AP 250 is FCC certified under part 15 to operate in the 2.4GHz ISM band. It supports IEEE802.11b on two separate radios that operate at up to 200 mWatts. It includes a 10/100 Ethernet interface for connecting to the wired LAN. For more information, refer to the IntelaWave AP 250 data sheet.
Does the IntelaWave AP 250 run the IntelaWave Agent?
No. It currently bridges IP traffic from the LAN side of a IntelaWave-Powered AP (such as a IntelaWave AP 120 or AP 160) wirelessley (using WDS) or wired.
How does the IntelaWave AP 250 work with IntelaWave Control Center or IntelaWaveNet?
The IntelaWave-Powered AP (IntelaWave AP 160, etc.) gateways authentication and tracking data to IntelaWave Control Center or IntelaWaveNet since the AP 250 does not include the IntelaWave Agent.
What is the range of the IntelaWave AP 250?
Up to 5,000 meters (3 miles) outdoors without obstructions (from one AP 250 to another AP 250.) The range to a client device varies depending on the specifications of the client Wi-Fi equipment (see our RF Propagation Basics white paper.)
Installation (Top)
How do I access the IntelaWave AP 250’s built-in web interface?
When it is pre-configured as a wireless bridge to work in conjunction with a IntelaWave-Powered AP, the web interface is not available. However, if you hold down the reset button (inside the unit) for about 8 seconds, it will reset to factory default settings with a static IP address of http://192.168.0.1, username and password of root and root. Don't forget to change the TCP/IP Address settings back to DHCP when you're done configuring other settings (after a factory default reset).
Can I password-protect the AP’s web interface to prevent unauthorized access?
Yes (but see comment above). The username and password default to root and root but can be changed through the web interface.
Usage (Top)
What security features does the IntelaWave AP 250 implement?
IntelaWave Control Center or IntelaWaveNet authentication pass-through.
Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) 64 & 128 bit standard IEEE802.11 security software. (Turned off by default.)
PPTP and IPSec VPN pass-through. (Preferred security method.)
What “mode” does the IntelaWave AP 250 run in?
It runs in wireless bridge, access point, or WDS modes in order to extend the range of a IntelaWave-Powered network.
How many IntelaWave AP 250s can be connected to a IntelaWave-Powered AP (such as an AP 160)?
It is limited only with respect to the end-user experience of the Internet backhaul speed.
Do you need a IntelaWave Control Center license for each AP 250, AP 160, or both?
No, you only need a license for each IntelaWave-Powered AP (e.g. AP 160). The AP 250 doesn’t run the IntelaWave Agent so it doesn’t “count” for licenses—think of it as a range extender for a IntelaWave-Powered AP, which is managed by IntelaWave Control Center or IntelaWaveNet.
Can I operate the IntelaWave AP 250 in both bridge and AP mode simultaneously?
Yes, if each of these modes is assigned to a separate antenna.
Does the IntelaWave AP 250 support WDS?
Yes.
Does the IntelaWave AP 250 accommodate a range-extending antenna or be used outdoors?
Yes. The AP 250 includes an industry-standard N-type connector (female) for connecting with standard wireless antennas.
Can I exclude users or devices based on MAC address?
Yes.
IntelaWave Agent and IntelaWave-Powered Access Points
Overview (Top)
What is the IntelaWave Agent?
The IntelaWave Agent is software that usually is compiled into the embedded software that runs on an AP. It enables the AP to be managed by IntelaWave Control Center.
What features does the IntelaWave Agent provide?
The IntelaWave Agent runs as an application-level process, responsible for:
Communications with IntelaWave Control Center
Remote telemetry (reporting its health and status)
Remote management (plug-n-play provisioning, configuration, upgrade)
Captive portal redirect (user authentication)
Dynamic firewalling (based on user policy)
Bandwidth tracking
What are the hardware requirements for the IntelaWave Agent?
Along with an embedded operating system (uClinux), it requires at least 2 MB of flash memory.
How much flash/memory does the IntelaWave Agent require?
The IntelaWave Agent adds only about 150KB onto an existing embedded image. We have working versions for uClinux on both Intel and Arm9 architectures. Altogether, the operating system plus the IntelaWave Agent require around 2MB flash memory.
What third-party access points are compatible with the IntelaWave Agent?
Only the Zcomax XG-2000 and the Gemtek P-520.
Installation (Top)
Will the IntelaWave Agent run on my (fill in the blank) access point?
No. The IntelaWave Agent runs only on access points sold by IntelaWave or one of its certified OEM partners.
