AC6805 Host (12xGE RJ45, 12xSFP+, 2xQSFP+, 1xUSB, 32G Memory, No power)

In today’s hyper-connected world, robust and scalable wireless infrastructure is paramount for businesses of all sizes. From bustling enterprise campuses to dynamic school environments, delivering seamless, high-performance Wi-Fi necessitates intelligent management of access points (APs). The gateway to such an optimized wireless network lies in a powerful and versatile Wireless Access Controller (WAC). Huawei’s AC6805 Wireless Access Controller stands as a testament to this requirement, designed to cater to the complex demands of medium to large-scale deployments. This sophisticated unit offers exceptional capacity, advanced air interface optimization, and a comprehensive suite of features to ensure your wireless network is not only operational but also efficient, secure, and reliable. This document delves into the intricate details of the AC6805, outlining its capabilities and how it can elevate your wireless network’s performance and manageability. We will explore its core architectural strengths, its intelligent radio management, its robust security features, and its impressive scalability, providing a full spectrum of information for IT professionals and decision-makers evaluating their next-generation wireless solutions.

Elevating Wireless Throughput and Scalability

The Huawei AC6805 Wireless Access Controller is engineered for performance and scalability, making it an ideal choice for demanding enterprise and educational environments. Its core strength lies in its capacity to manage a vast number of access points, up to a staggering 10,240 Common APs and Remote Units (RUs), while simultaneously delivering a substantial 120 Gbps of forwarding performance. This impressive throughput ensures that even with a dense deployment of APs and a high volume of client traffic, network performance remains uncompromised. The architecture is built to support the latest wireless standards, including 802.11ax, 802.11ac, 802.11n, and even the emerging 802.11be, ensuring future-proof connectivity. Its flexible interface configuration, featuring 2x40GE optical, 12x10GE optical, and 12xGE electrical ports, allows for adaptable integration into diverse network infrastructures. Notably, the AC6805 is designed with an understanding of critical resource allocation, where one 40GE port is mutually exclusive with four 10GE ports, providing network designers with strategic choices for backbone connectivity. This design philosophy underscores its commitment to high-density, high-performance wireless solutions, enabling seamless connectivity for a growing number of devices and users in complex network topologies.

The AC6805’s commitment to robust wireless deployment is further evident in its comprehensive management capabilities. It offers granular control over APs, allowing for efficient grouping, regional deployment strategies (distributed, common, and centralized), and type-specific management. This meticulous approach to AP management ensures that each access point is configured and optimized according to its specific environment and role within the network. For instance, the AP region management allows administrators to define distinct operational parameters for different deployment densities, ensuring optimal radio performance and interference mitigation. Whether it’s maximizing coverage in a large open space or ensuring capacity in a densely populated area, the AC6805 provides the tools to tailor the wireless environment. Furthermore, its compatibility with Huawei’s entire range of APs, supporting hybrid deployments of 802.11n, 802.11ac, and 802.11ax, provides maximum flexibility and investment protection, allowing organizations to upgrade their wireless infrastructure incrementally.

Intelligent Radio Optimization with SmartRadio

At the heart of the AC6805’s advanced Wi-Fi performance lies its proprietary SmartRadio technology. This suite of intelligent features is dedicated to optimizing the air interface, ensuring a stable, high-performance wireless experience for all connected users. One of the key components is “Load balancing during smart roaming.” This feature actively works to distribute client devices (STAs) evenly across available APs even after a roaming event. By dynamically adjusting the load on each AP, it prevents performance degradation caused by overloaded access points, thereby enhancing overall network stability and user satisfaction. When a client roams to a new AP, the algorithm assesses the load on the existing APs and can steer clients to less congested access points, ensuring that no single AP becomes a bottleneck.

Further enhancing spectrum efficiency is the “Intelligent DFA (Dynamic Frequency Assignment) technology.” This sophisticated algorithm actively combats co-channel and adjacent-channel interference, common issues in dense wireless deployments. DFA technology automatically detects interference sources, identifies underutilized 2.4 GHz bands, and, through negotiation between APs, reconfigures or disables redundant radios. For APs supporting dual-5G capabilities, this can include switching a 2.4 GHz radio to operate in the 5 GHz band, significantly increasing overall system capacity and reducing interference. This intelligent utilization of the radio spectrum is critical for maintaining high data rates and low latency in environments with a high concentration of wireless devices. Complementing these features is “Intelligent conflict optimization technology,” which leverages dynamic EDCA (Enhanced Distributed Channel Access) and airtime scheduling algorithms. These mechanisms ensure fair access to wireless channels by managing channel occupation time and service priorities for each user. By working to provide relatively equal channel access time and orderly service scheduling, this technology drastically improves service processing efficiency and, most importantly, the end-user experience.

Versatile Roles and Flexible Networking

The Huawei AC6805 transcends the role of a simple controller, acting as a versatile platform within a broader network ecosystem. Its integrated Portal/AAA server functionality allows it to directly handle user authentication, including Portal and 802.1X protocols. This convergence of control and authentication reduces the need for external servers, thereby lowering deployment costs and simplifying network architecture. This built-in capability offers a streamlined approach to user management, essential for environments requiring granular access control and secure onboarding of devices. The ability to provide both Portal and 802.1X authentication directly from the AC simplifies the overall deployment and maintenance of the wireless network.

Network flexibility is a cornerstone of the AC6805’s design, supporting a variety of deployment modes such as inline, bypass, bridge, and Mesh networking. This adaptability ensures that the AC6805 can seamlessly integrate into existing network topologies or be deployed as a foundational element for new architectures. It supports both centralized and local forwarding, offering administrators the choice to optimize traffic flow based on network needs and latency sensitivities. Furthermore, the AC6805 is capable of operating across Layer 2 and Layer 3 networks, providing extensive routing flexibility. For scenarios where APs are situated on a private network and the controller on a public network, NAT traversal capabilities ensure continued operation and management. This interoperability, combined with its support for a wide array of AP standards, from 802.11n to the latest 802.11be, ensures that the AC6805 can be integrated into virtually any campus or enterprise network environment, facilitating straightforward scalability and adaptability. This broad compatibility and deployment flexibility mean that organizations can leverage their existing AP investments while planning for future upgrades and expansions.

Advanced Application Intelligence and Control

In modern networks, understanding and managing application traffic is crucial for maintaining performance and enforcing policies. The Huawei AC6805 excels in this domain with its built-in application identification server, capable of recognizing and classifying over 6,000 applications. This deep packet inspection (DPI) capability extends from Layer 4 to Layer 7, allowing for granular identification of everything from common office applications like Lync and FaceTime to bandwidth-intensive P2P services and popular social media platforms such as YouTube and Facebook. This comprehensive application visibility is the foundation for intelligent network management.

Building upon this visibility, the AC6805 empowers administrators with sophisticated application-based policy control. This includes the ability to block specific applications that may violate organizational policies, limit the bandwidth consumed by certain applications to ensure critical services have priority, and adjust the priority of application traffic to optimize performance for business-critical functions. The system also supports automatic expansion of its application signature database, ensuring that it remains current with newly emerging applications and cloud services. This proactive approach to application management guarantees that network policies remain effective, and resources are allocated optimally, preventing common issues like network congestion caused by unmanaged or unauthorized applications. The AC6805’s application intelligence transforms the wireless network from a simple connectivity provider into a strategic tool for business operations and policy enforcement.

Robust Reliability and Unified Management

The Huawei AC6805 is designed with a comprehensive reliability strategy to ensure uninterrupted wireless service. It features support for redundant AC power supplies, including hot-swappable modules, minimizing downtime during maintenance or component failure. For high-availability requirements, it offers both 1+1 Hot Standby (HSB) and N+1 backup capabilities for the WLAN AC itself, ensuring that if a primary controller fails, a secondary controller can seamlessly take over, maintaining service continuity. Port redundancy is also integrated through support for Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) and Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol (MSTP), providing resilience at the physical network interface layer.

A critical feature for maintaining uptime, especially in large or distributed networks, is the WAN authentication escape mechanism. This allows APs, when disconnected from the WLAN AC, to retain the online status of existing client devices and permit new connections in local forwarding mode. This ensures that users remain connected even during temporary controller outages, significantly enhancing the perceived reliability of the wireless service. Complementing these hardware and failover mechanisms is the AC6805’s built-in visualized network management platform. This integrated web system simplifies configuration and offers extensive monitoring capabilities through a health-centric, single-page interface. Key performance indicators (KPIs) for user, radio, and AP performance are presented graphically, providing instant insights into network status and enabling rapid troubleshooting. The platform further enhances efficiency with profile-based configuration for AP groups, streamlining the process of applying consistent settings across multiple APs and allowing for quick replication of configurations between similar AP groups. This combination of hardware resilience and user-friendly management tools makes the AC6805 a robust and easily managed solution for mission-critical wireless networks.

Comprehensive Switching and Forwarding Capabilities

The AC6805 is powered by a sophisticated switching and forwarding engine that underpins its high-performance capabilities. At its foundation are robust Ethernet features, supporting auto-negotiation for duplex modes (full/half) and rates (10 Mbps, 100 Mbps, 1000 Mbps), ensuring compatibility with a wide range of network equipment. Advanced features like flow control, Jumbo frames for efficient large packet transmission, and link aggregation for increased bandwidth and redundancy are all standard. Load balancing across trunk links further enhances reliability and performance. Interface isolation and forwarding restrictions provide granular control over traffic flow, while broadcast storm suppression protects the network from excessive multicast or unicast traffic. These fundamental switching capabilities ensure efficient and reliable data transport.

The controller also boasts comprehensive layer 2 and layer 3 routing functionalities. It supports access, trunk, and hybrid VLAN modes, along with default VLANs and VLAN pooling for flexible network segmentation. MAC address management includes automatic learning and aging, static, dynamic, and blackhole MAC address entries, MAC address filtering based on source addresses, and limits on MAC learning per interface. ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) support includes static and dynamic entries, ARP within VLANs, and aging of ARP entries. For loop prevention, it integrates STP, RSTP, and MSTP, along with BPDU protection, root protection, and loop protection mechanisms. IPv4 forwarding is extensive, covering ARP, RARP, ARP proxy, NAT, Bonjour protocol, static routing, RIP (v1/v2), OSPF, BGP, and IS-IS. Policy-based routing and URPF (Unicast Reverse Path Forwarding) checks add advanced control. DHCP server and relay functionalities, along with DHCP snooping, further streamline IP address management.

IPv6 support is equally robust, including ND (Neighbor Discovery) protocol, static routes, RIPng, OSPFv3, BGP4+, IS-IS IPv6, DHCPv6, and DHCPv6 snooping. Multicast routing is handled efficiently with IGMP (v1/v2/v3), PIM-SM, multicast routing policies, and RPF checks. Layer 2 multicast features, such as IGMP snooping and prompt leave, optimize multicast traffic delivery. Device reliability is enhanced with BFD (Bidirectional Forwarding Detection) support. Furthermore, the AC6805 offers comprehensive Quality of Service (QoS) features, including sophisticated traffic classification based on L2 header, IP 5-tuple, and 802.1p priority. It supports traffic policing, re-marking, class-based queuing, and various queue scheduling algorithms (PQ, DRR, WRR) with congestion avoidance mechanisms like SRED and WRED. Smart Application Control (SAC) provides application-level traffic management, ensuring critical applications receive the necessary bandwidth and priority. This deep integration of advanced L2/L3 switching, routing, and QoS functionalities ensures that the AC6805 can effectively manage and optimize traffic for diverse and demanding network environments.

Advanced Wireless Management and Security

The AC6805 provides a powerful and flexible platform for managing the entire wireless lifecycle, from AP deployment to user access and security. AP management features include robust access control via whitelisting MAC addresses or serial numbers, as well as automatic discovery and manual confirmation workflows. AP profile and group management simplify mass configuration, enabling administrators to apply settings efficiently to large numbers of APs. AP region management allows for distinct operational parameters based on deployment density, ensuring optimal radio performance in any scenario. AP type management enables granular control over AP attributes like interfaces, radios, and user capacity.

Radio management is equally sophisticated, with radio profile configurations allowing for detailed settings of working modes, rates, and automatic or manual channel and power adjustments. Dynamic radio management enables APs to self-optimize their channels and power levels in response to interference, with partial and global calibration options available for fine-tuning. Enhanced service capabilities include band steering to guide devices to the less congested 5 GHz band and advanced smart roaming protocols (802.11k, 802.11v, and 802.11r) for seamless client transitions between APs, ensuring consistent connectivity even during movement. WLAN service management extends to ESS (Extended Service Set) configuration, VAP (Virtual Access Point) management for flexible SSID deployment, and service provisioning rules for automated AP onboarding.

Security is a paramount concern, and the AC6805 offers a comprehensive suite of security features. WLAN security profiles manage authentication and encryption, supporting a wide array of standards including WEP, WPA/WPA2/WPA3 (PSK and 802.1X), WPA3-SAE, and WAPI. It supports various EAP types for robust 802.1X authentication, as well as Portal authentication. Combined authentication methods like PSK+MAC and MAC+Portal offer layered security. AAA integration with RADIUS and local accounts (including MAC addresses) provides flexible authentication options. Security isolation at the port and user group levels prevents unauthorized inter-user communication. Advanced WIDS/WIPS (Wireless Intrusion Detection/Prevention System) capabilities monitor for and mitigate rogue devices and threats. Authority control via ACLs allows for fine-grained access policies based on ports, user groups, or individual users. Additional security features include SSID hiding, IP source guard for MAC-IP binding, and support for BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) identification based on various device attributes. Location services, spectrum analysis for interference detection, and Hotspot 2.0 compliance further enhance the platform’s utility and security posture.

Technical Specifications Summary

The Huawei AC6805 is engineered for high-performance and scalability in enterprise and campus environments.

Ordering Information

To procure the Huawei AC6805 Wireless Access Controller and its associated components, please refer to the following part numbers:

For exclusive global discounts and offers on networking equipment, visit itmall.sale.

For further technical information and support regarding Huawei WLAN products, please visit e.huawei.com or contact Huawei Enterprise technical support via their global service hotline, technical support website, or customer service email.