topic Cisco Aironet 1600/2600/3600 in Wireless

Cisco Aironet 1600/2600/3600

tbeiser11 — Sun, 04 Jul 2021 06:21:58 GMT

Hi Group,

I'm leaning toward buying 2 cisco 2600 access points for our office.

My goal is to eliminate the residential style access points. The issue is security/management. Each time someone leaves the company, the password needs to be changed, and then all the laptops need to be changed. Looking for a better managed solution.

I am aware that cisco also offers controllers to simplify management, but since we are only needing 2 access points, I want to know if I can successfully integrate these 2 access points with active directory without a controller.

A couple of other questions.

Is a radius server required for this or can the AP's directly talk with Active Directory via LDAP.

Without a controller, does each AP require a different SSID, would like to have them the same?

Is any software required to be installed on the laptops (win xp and 7)

Any advantages to using a controller for a 2 AP system?

Thanks for the info.

Re: Cisco Aironet 1600/2600/3600

Scott Fella — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:20:51 GMT

Tom,

You can use the 2600's in autonomous mode, but if you don't want to use a WLC then I would suggest Mayberry a 1142 since clean air and other features that you get with that AP and using a WLC is not available. It's up to you though, but that AP will work.

You would need a radius server to connect to AD as the AP will not do LDAP lookups. Also you can have multiple AP's with the same SSID but make sure you use separate channels.

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Re: Cisco Aironet 1600/2600/3600

Scott Fella — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:23:19 GMT

Is any software required to be installed on the laptops (win xp and 7)

- No... I would assume if you bring up a radius server that is tied to the domain and has a certificate you can do 802.1x authentication. You might see it on your device as WPA2 Enterprise

Any advantages to using a controller for a 2 AP system?

Well you can also have WebAuth for guest and the WLC can use LDAP but having a radius is better. A 2504 would be what you want.

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Cisco Aironet 1600/2600/3600

tbeiser11 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:30:31 GMT

Thanks for your replies. Which radius server will work? If I'm not mistaken, windows server comes with a radius server, can that be used?

Ok, so if I use the same SSID with mulitple channels, will 2 different SSID's with the same name show up in the client? Will they have to manually choose which AP to connect to? I'm trying to eliminate that and just have one AP connection in the client. If the controller will do this, then we'll get the controller.

Tom

Re: Cisco Aironet 1600/2600/3600

Scott Fella — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:34:02 GMT

Tom,

Microsoft has IAS for 2003 server and NPS for 2008 server. You can use either one depending on what you are on now. You would also need a PKI (certificate server)

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Cisco Aironet 1600/2600/3600

tbeiser11 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:42:51 GMT

Thanks Scott, what about the SSID question above?

Tom

Cisco Aironet 1600/2600/3600

Scott Fella — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:45:04 GMT

You should have the SSID on all AP's and it should be the same or else it really wouldn't work well.

Thanks,

Scott

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Cisco Aironet 1600/2600/3600

tbeiser11 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 16:48:36 GMT

But is the controller required to have 2 APs with the same name (but only show up in the client). I'm trying to figure out if I do not have a controller, will 2 different AP's with the same name show up in the client.

Cisco Aironet 1600/2600/3600

Scott Fella — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 17:04:05 GMT

AP names should be different... hostnames should never be the same. SSID's should be the same so that a device can roam from one ssid to another. If you have two different ssid's, well the device will have to change to a different wireless profile and it can cause users to notice and complain. Keep the SSID's the same an you should be fine... this is noral best practice.

Thanks,

Scott

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Cisco Aironet 1600/2600/3600

tbeiser11 — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 17:10:06 GMT

Thanks again for all your help, really appreciate it.

I'm going to go with 2 2602i and 1 2504 controller. I notice the access point part number matters depending on whether you get a controller or not. I imagine that it is a matter of software installed though?

Also, do you happen to know if it comes with mounting hardware or is that a separate part number?

Tom

Cisco Aironet 1600/2600/3600

Scott Fella — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 17:16:28 GMT

Take a look at this PDF, you can order one of these for free when you place an order.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/wireless/flyers/APbracketsAndClips.pdf

The AP you will need if your in th eUS is air-cap2602i-a-k9. I would make sure when you order the WLC2504 that you also mention code 7.3 or 7.4 so it gets preloaded since the 2602's require version 7.2.110.0 or newer... I would go with the 7.4.

Thanks,

Scott

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Cisco Aironet 1600/2600/3600

tbeiser11 — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 16:51:34 GMT

Hi Scott,

One other question for you.

Is it suitable to plug the Access Point into a switch first before plugging into the wireless controller?

Thanks.

Cisco Aironet 1600/2600/3600

Scott Fella — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 16:54:12 GMT

Its preferred to plug the AP into a switch and not the WLC. Cisco TAC doesn't support AP's connected directly to the WLC.

Thanks,

Scott

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Cisco Aironet 1600/2600/3600

tbeiser11 — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 16:57:15 GMT

Makes sense now that I think about it since it is 4 port and licensed for 5 AP.

Thanks.

Cisco Aironet 1600/2600/3600

Leo Laohoo — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 03:53:46 GMT

You can get an 8-port PoE switch.

You have a choice of either FastEthernet or GigabitEthernet.

Here's a Comparison Chart.

Cisco Aironet 1600/2600/3600

R.Beeching — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 04:10:10 GMT

Hey Scott,

You mentioned the 1142 due to clean air capability but I thought that was an additional chipset only available on 3500/3600 APs?

Cheers,

Ric

Re: Cisco Aironet 1600/2600/3600

Scott Fella — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 04:15:40 GMT

If you don't have a WLC, there isn't a reason to purchase CleanAir AP's because its not supported if your running autonomous. Now if you plan on getting a WLC, then yeah the 1600/2600/3500/3600.

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Cisco Aironet 1600/2600/3600

Leo Laohoo — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 04:16:02 GMT

You may misread Scott's post. CleanAir is only on the 3500, 2600/3600. 1600 supports CleanAir "Express".

Cisco Aironet 1600/2600/3600

R.Beeching — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 04:31:06 GMT

Ah yes I did misread that I thought he was saying 1142 did come with clean air and my world imploded. All good :-).

Re: Cisco Aironet 1600/2600/3600

Scott Fella — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 06:06:09 GMT

Oh no:) since you didn't mention a WLC I figured you were just going to purchase autonomous. Just wanted you to understand that there is a difference between these APs when autonomous and when they are joined to a WLC.

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