In a large-scale wireless network deployment scenario, when the AC is configured as "three-layer networking + bypass mode + direct forwarding", where should the wireless user's gateway be located?

Question

Options

• AOn a Layer 3 switch at the aggregation layer
• BOn a one-arm router
• COn the AC
• DOn the AP

• A
  75% (45)
• B
  7% (4)
• C
  15% (9)
• D
  3% (2)

Explanation

In three-layer networking with bypass mode and direct forwarding, the AC sits off the main data path and handles only control/management traffic via the CAPWAP control tunnel -- it never sees user data, so it cannot serve as the gateway (eliminating C). The AP is a Layer 2 device that bridges wireless clients to the wired network; it performs no routing and has no gateway function (eliminating D). A one-arm router is a valid gateway design in some topologies but is not the standard or expected placement in this specific architecture (eliminating B). Because direct forwarding sends wireless traffic straight into the wired network without passing through the AC, the first Layer 3 routing point that traffic reaches is the aggregation-layer switch, which hosts the VLANIF/SVI interfaces that serve as the wireless users' default gateway -- making A correct.

Memory tip: "Bypass means off the path." When the AC is bypassed, ask yourself where user traffic actually flows. In three-layer networking, traffic goes AP -> access switch -> aggregation switch, so the aggregation Layer 3 switch is where routing happens and where the gateway lives.

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