# Cisco Wireless Network Architectures

**URL:** https://forum.networklessons.com/t/cisco-wireless-network-architectures/8989
**Category:** Lessons Discussion
**Created:** [November 26, 2019, 9:56am UTC](https://forum.networklessons.com/t/cisco-wireless-network-architectures/8989 "2019-11-26T09:56:34Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 6

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### Author: ![lagapidis](https://cdn-forum.networklessons.com/user_avatar/forum.networklessons.com/lagapidis/32/4949_2.png) [@lagapidis](https://forum.networklessons.com/u/lagapidis)
#### Post date: [April 16, 2020, 8:52am UTC](https://forum.networklessons.com/t/cisco-wireless-network-architectures/8989/6 "2020-04-16T08:52:17Z")

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Hello Jonah

As you suggested, Cisco Meraki access points are a special case. They are not strictly speaking “lightweight” since they still have a level of intelligence higher than real lightweight APs. They are indeed somewhere between lightweight and autonomous APs. This is why they belong to the Cloud-Based AP Architecture category.

Only control plane traffic is exchanged between the AP and the cloud controller. All data traffic remains on the local network. For multiple SSIDs, it is possible to tag the traffic of each SSID with the appropriate VLAN ID, and configure those VLANs on the switchport for segregation of the network segments. More info on that can be found here:

> **[VLAN Tagging on MR Access Points](https://documentation.meraki.com/MR/Client_Addressing_and_Bridging/VLAN_Tagging_on_MR_Access_Points)**
>
> It is often necessary to configure VLANs on your network to limit broadcast traffic, segment traffic, or restrict traffic for security reasons. If you already have VLANs implemented on your …

I hope this has been helpful!

Laz

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