HPE Aruba Networking

WLAN Access Points

WLAN Access Points

HPE Aruba Networking

Wireless

HP Aruba Access Points

HPE Aruba Networking

HPE Aruba Networking

Access Points

Indoor Campus

Aruba 518 Series Hardened Access Points

The hardened, Aruba 518 Series access point delivers high Wi-Fi 6 performance in harsh, weather-protected environments such as warehouses, industrial freezers or enclosures in extreme environments such as stadiums It delivers 4x4:4SS MU-MIMO capability, Aruba's advanced ClientMatch and integrated Bluetooth to enable Aruba location services. Purpose-built to survive in the harshest outdoor environments, 518 Series APs withstand exposure to extreme high and low temperatures, persistent (non-precipitant) moisture, and are sealed to keep out airborne contaminants. All electrical interfaces include industrial strength surge protection. Aruba Wi-Fi 6 access points provide high-performance connectivity for any organization experiencing growing numbers of IoT and mobility requirements. With maximum aggregate on air data rate of 3 Gbps (HE80/HE40) the 518 Series delivers the speed and reliability needed for any environment. Incredible Efficiency

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. Read the Multi-User 802.11ax white paper for further information.

Advantages of OFDMA

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. These sub divisions of the channel are referred to as Resource Units (RU).

Aruba Air Slice for Extended OFDMA Assurance

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.

Multi-User MIMO (MU-MIMO)

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.

Wi-Fi 6 and MU-MIMO aware client optimization

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.

Aruba Advanced Cellular Coexistence (ACC)

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.

Intelligent Power Monitoring (IPM)

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.

Green AP energy efficiency

Aruba Wi-Fi 6 APs utilize analytics from Aruba Central to automatically transition in and out of a sleep mode.

IoT Platform Capabilities

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..

Target Wake Time (TWT)

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.

Aruba Secure Infrastructure
The 518 Series is an integral part of Aruba's 360 Secure Fabric to help protect user authentication and wireless traffic. Select capabilities include:

WPA3 and Enhanced Open

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.

WPA2-MPSK

MPSK enables simpler passkey management for WPA 2 devices - should the Wi-Fi password on one device change, no additional changes are needed for other devices. This feature is enabled when networks are deployed with ClearPass Policy Manager.

VPN Tunnels

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.

Trusted Platform Module (TPM)

For enhanced device assurance, all Aruba APs have an installed TPM for secure storage of credentials, keys and boot code.

Simple and Secure Access

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.

High-Density Connectivity

Each 518 Series AP provides connectivity for a maximum of 512 associated clients per radio (1,024 total).

Flexible Operation and Management

A unique feature of Aruba APs is the ability to operate in either controller less or controller-based mode.

Controller-less (Instant) Mode

In controller-less mode, one AP serves as a virtual controller for the entire network. Learn more about Instant mode in this technology brief.

Mobility Controller Mode

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. Learn more in the ArubaOS datasheet.

Management Options

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.
Additional Wi-Fi Features

Transmit Beamforming (TxBF): Increased signal reliability and range
Passpoint Release 2: Seamless cellular-to-Wi-Fi carryover for guests
Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS): Optimized use of available RF spectrum
Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC): Improved receiver performance for multi antenna access points.
Cyclic Delay/Shift Diversity (CDD/CSD): Enable use of multiple transmit antennas
Space-Time Block Coding (STBC): Increased connection robustness
Low-Density Parity Check (LDPC): High performance error detection and correction coding for enhanced receiver performance.