lightweight access point?

Im moving from an all in one to a router + access point. In doing googling and reasearch and talking to friends I ended up with

• router – cisco rv016

• wifi access point – airnet 1142 lightweight access point. (lap1142n)

In trying to set all this up and reading I think I bought the wrong access point. It seems I need a wireless controller? Can someone confirm that I should not have bought the lightweight one?

You need a Cisco Wireless LAN Controller to configure and deploy a LAP. They don’t run full-blown iOS, but rather a slimmed down OS that only boots the radios and physical interfaces and then “calls out” to a controller for the remainder of their configuration.

You can purchase autonomous (stand-alone) 1142s, Their part/model number is just AP1142. Anything that starts with LAP is a Lightweight Access Point and requires a controller.

tl;dr – You bought the wrong thing.

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