topic Re: Moving access points and clients from 5508 to 9800 WLC in Wireless

Moving access points and clients from 5508 to 9800 WLC

pthakkar — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 14:16:17 GMT

So we have old 5508 controllers in our environment which has access points and clients on them. We also have 9800 WLC in our environment on the same switches. We are planning to move the access points and clients between the two controllers and wanted to know if someone has tried this before and it worked,

Re: Moving access points and clients from 5508 to 9800 WLC

Flavio Miranda — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 14:22:17 GMT

@pthakkar

This is perfect possible but which access point model we are talking about? Not all access point model is accepted on the 9800 and not all access point firmware.

Re: Moving access points and clients from 5508 to 9800 WLC

Mark Elsen — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 14:28:31 GMT

- The question is a bit sparse ; in theory that is very easy; you can use DHCP option 43 to let the AP(s) find the correct controller, but as far as getting the 9800 ready there are a number of issues to consider.
- Configuring it correctly ; look for instance at https://www.ciscolive.com/c/dam/r/ciscolive/global-event/docs/2024/pdf/BRKEWN-2094.pdf

+ Always checkout your 9800 controller's configuration with the CLI command
show tech wireless (not 'show tech') and feed the output from that into Wireless Config Analyzer
==>To be done before production deployment!!

+ Use latest advisory software version on the 9800 ; 17.12.3 and check if your access points are
compatible according to : https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/compatibility/matrix/compatibility-matrix.html

Re: Moving access points and clients from 5508 to 9800 WLC

pthakkar — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 15:27:18 GMT

AIR-CAP3502I-A-K9

Re: Moving access points and clients from 5508 to 9800 WLC

Mark Elsen — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 15:39:47 GMT

- These APs are too old and can not be used on the 9800 platform(s) ,
===> Ref : https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/compatibility/matrix/compatibility-matrix.html

Re: Moving access points and clients from 5508 to 9800 WLC

Flavio Miranda — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 15:46:30 GMT

As per the compatibility matrix,this AP is not supported in 9800 WLC.

Check the "Cisco Catalyst 9800 Wireless Controller and Supported Access Points" on the following link

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/compatibility/matrix/compatibility-matrix.html

Re: Moving access points and clients from 5508 to 9800 WLC

Haydn Andrews — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 22:23:05 GMT

Things to check
AP compadibility Matrix - others have shared the link

Unless migrating all APs that can see each other suggest ensuring the AireOS WLC is running an IRCM image and configuring mobility between them otherwise you will have a bad day.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/technotes/8-8/b_c9800_wireless_controller-aireos_ircm_dg.html

Re: Moving access points and clients from 5508 to 9800 WLC

jmanzanera — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 07:45:48 GMT

Hello pthakkar ,
I understand you want use WLC9800 and WLC5508 at the same time and migrate the AP from the old WLC to a new WLC. As the others mentioned, you will face the problem that the APs you are using are not compatible with the WLC9800.
In the case you are installing new AP (compatible with WLC9800) I highly recommend to mix the AP connected to WLC5508 and AP connected to WLC9800 to avoid a lot of issues on your environment. The issue you can encounter are the following:

- Roaming problems.
- RF problems (notice not all the AP and not all the different WLCs can see the RF environment on the same way.
- Unexpected disconnections.

Saying that, if you are idea is to migrate the brownfield scenario to the new one I suggest to do the following:

- Avoid to use salt and pepper scenarios - create areas with the same AP model and same WLC connected.
- Use the primary WLC controller configuration on the AP that are going to be connected to WLC9800 during the transition mode. This will help the AP to find the right controller.
- Use DHCP 43 option to connect the old AP to WLC5008.

- Check if mobility and RF group is capable between the both WLC5008 and WLC9800. If it is working, please be sure the WLC9800 is the leader for all the bands.

I hope I understand what you want to do.

Re: Moving access points and clients from 5508 to 9800 WLC

pthakkar — Mon, 14 Oct 2024 14:18:44 GMT

Thank you