Configuring and Troubleshooting SSID/MBSSID

The SSID is a unique identifier that an STA uses to establish wireless connectivity. The simplest setup is using one SSID that is mapped to the native VLAN:

dot11 ssid hofberg
   authentication open
   vlan 1
interface dot11Radio 0
   ssid hofberg

You can configure different SSIDs on the access point for different Layer 2 connections on the wireless site:

dot11 ssid oelberg
   authentication open
   vlan 2
interface dot11Radio 0
   ssid oelberg

The access point is using a 48-bit hex value called the basic service set identifier (BSSID) and is typically the MAC address of the radio interface. If you collect wireless sniffer traces, you can verify the BSSID in every data frame.

To overcome the legacy limitation of one BSSID, access points can now have multiple BSSIDs, which are typically the MAC addresses of the radio interface, with increment +1 of the last 3 bits and therefore supporting up to eight BSSIDs.