As thorough as these capabilities are, however, WLAN managers need tools to detect unauthorized or rogue access points, a worry compounded by the proliferation of inexpensive consumer-class wireless gear that employees may be tempted to self-install. Rogue access points open security holes and interfere with radio transmissions of the legitimate network, and can have effects ranging from nuisance to inadvertently "giving away the store" where sensitive data is concerned.
In answer, Cisco has added its first-ever battery of airspace-management capabilities under the heading Radio Manager. Among Radio Manager's strengths is its ability to find and pinpoint rogue access points (based on BSSID) and non-802.11 noise that might be interfering with the wireless network, and to display findings in both text and graphic formats.
Another advantage to Cisco's SWAN technology is its ability to survey and map a site. Switches, together with EAP and RADIUS servers, are not only inventoried, but managed as well to round out the topology. Unfortunately, the WLSE solution is worthless against rogue wireless routers, and many of the capabilities in the Radio Manager are limited to the venerable 802.11b (11-Mbps) standard. I welcome Cisco's planned release of 802.11a and g management capabilities this year.
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