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CAPWAP Control
CAPWAP (Control And Provisioning of Wireless Access Points) is a protocol standardized in RFC 5415, designed to unify and streamline the management, control, and provisioning of multiple wireless access points (APs) from a centralized wireless controller. Port 5246 specifically handles the control messages exchanged between controllers and APs, allowing centralized management of configurations, firmware updates, and security policies over a secure management channel..
The Control And Provisioning of Wireless Access Points (CAPWAP) protocol facilitates communication between wireless controllers and access points. Defined in RFC 5415, it separates control and data traffic, with port 5246 dedicated exclusively to control messages which manage AP configuration, firmware updates, authentication, and radio parameter management. CAPWAP provides an abstraction layer to enable uniform management regardless of AP vendor, easing deployment of large-scale wireless networks.
CAPWAP operates predominantly over UDP on port 5246 for its control path. The control messages are encapsulated into CAPWAP packets, which can optionally be encrypted to protect confidentiality and integrity. This control channel supports capabilities negotiation, configuration messages, and management commands necessary to set up and operate APs, as well as to maintain operational state.
In production environments, CAPWAP simplifies deployment and management of wireless infrastructure by enabling centralized provisioning and monitoring. This orchestration reduces manual AP configuration and ensures uniform policy enforcement across the wireless fabric, which is crucial for consistent service delivery and network scalability.