Hi, The following is my opinion, I highly reocmmend asking your partner/var these same questions to get the right deal and purchase the right options. Why 1815 out of interest? If going through a refresh, the Catalyst 9k series APs might future proof more with the 802.11ax capabilities. 1) The 9800s require Smart Licensing so you'll probably need a DNA type license to use with them. The deployment guide specifies: Access points support the following AIR licensing levels: AIR Network Essential (AIR-NE) AIR Network Advantage (AIR-NA) AIR DNA Essential (AIR-DNA-E) AIR DNA Advantage (AIR-DNA-A) https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/9800/16-11/config-guide/b_wl_16_11_cg/smart-licensing.html Cisco traditionally doesn't allow straight migration between WLC model/series types although depends how your legacy licenses are deployed. Either way, smart licensing is probably the way to go. 2) Unlike Meraki, the APs / WLCs etc will continue to operate once the licenses expire but in various limited capacities. For example, new APs may be unable to join the WLC as well as APs that have restarted; DNA features may not work if you are using it, and warnings will be presented regarding the expiration. Right now if Cisco Prime moves to an unlicensed state for example, there is a grace period before it becomes unusable. 3) The virtual 9800s support AP SSO when deployed in private cloud (your own infra). Therefore on that logic, you should be able to deploy two 9800s right now on the one license as the secondary will inherit the primary's licenses on failure. Should you find you need a license for that second 9800 virtual, you can always buy another one. Again - Just my interpretation! Cheers, Ric ... View more

Switch to  8.5.140.0 or 8.8.111.0 release and try again :).   Ric   ... View more

Good question, I'd never really considered that feature. My interpretation would be if there are devices configured with link local addresses in either IPv4 or IPv6 address space (assuming you have IPv6 enabled) then devices can communicate through the controller on the same VLAN which is not too dissimilar to broadcast forwarding but perhaps the WLC blocks any link local traffic by default when detected. Ric ... View more

Unless things have changed since I last checked, you cannot build a PTP between two 1562s without a WLC because they don't support Autonomous code and a 1562 when acting as an ME cannot become a Root Mesh AP.   Therefore you can only achieve this with 2* 1562 + a WLC of some sorts (ME or traditional WLC). Once this is available, join your two 1562s to the WLC and set them up in RAP and MAP Mesh mode.   Cheers, Ric   ... View more

1) You can setup all APs as Mobility Express and they will go through a master election process to determine who is the master at the time. If you change the subordinates to CAPWAP they can never take over as the master so leave all as ME. 2) Option A as the APs will still join the master and be 'normal' APs but in the event of an outage to the master, the elected secondary will take over. Ric ... View more

Hey, Are you certain all Non-Root can see the Root? As they boot, they should scan on all channels for your Root but maybe they can't see it or return communications? On the root side, do you see association requests from all of the non-root APs? In terms of physical layout, are all these APs close to each other? You mentioned going around the facility to reboot them etc.. normally this mode is use for a point-to-point or point-to-multipoint bridge with line of sight and antennas that point at each other. Finally, what IOS version are you utilising? Ric ... View more

What output do you get locally on the console of the second AP? Can you log on to it locally/remotely? If you shutdown all ME APs including the primary, does the AP that is not joining become the primary ME WLC? Ric ... View more

Hi, 1) Can the windows server telnet to the AP from command prompt? Just to "telnet <ip>" and see if it can get there. Or use putty to test. 2) Are the APs configured globally to accept telnet connections? 3) Can you telnet from another device to the AP and login with the same credentials in the config.ini? 4) Is a firewall potentially blocking the connection either locally on the win server or on between the server and firewall? Ric ... View more

Supporting VoWiFi is not a simple thing unfortunately. A high level approach would be: - Determine what devices are being used for VOIP (Cisco, non-Cisco, mobiles, etc) and what their requirements are e.g. QoS support, 2.4GHz/5GHz, RSSI, SNR. - Read the VoWiFi deployment guide and follow the guidelines in there depending on your devices e.g. fast roaming, WMM, CAC. - Understand and implement QoS on the WLAN - Ideally perform a site survey to determine cell boundaries and RF patterns in the office so you can then adjust your power levels/physical AP deployment to match those requirements Additional: - Check WLC software version to ensure it is recommended - Confirm drivers on the devices are up to date where possible - See if FRA is enabled on 2802s and if that's helping/not-helping your deployment - Many other things I've neglected to mention here Ric ... View more

Ah so the native VLAN won't cross the link to avoid loops. If you can change the VLAN your Mesh APs are on then 903 will be allowed to cross the link. Alternatively change the switch VLAN, whichever is easier. Ric ... View more

You had extended pings running, was this just to the APs or clients behind the APs? With an SSO setup the database is copied from primary to secondary to allow for seamless cutover. It is possible something went wrong there but you'll need to test further. Joined status indicates the APs actually did disconnect during the failover event and rejoined your WLC, even if it was super quick. As a test I would say that SSO failed but it was perhaps not that noticeable. If you can do the test again, log on to an AP that shows as 'joined' after the failover and perform a show logging on there to see if it went through the discovery/rejoin process again. This will help you work out if it actually dropped off or if it is a bug on the SSO. You can also do a 'debug capwap events enable' on the WLC but it might give you a lot of logs that are difficult to sift through. Cheers, Ric ... View more

What VLAN are your switches management running on? ... View more

Can you just put an internal AP into a NEMA enclosure? You can get an 1142 off ebay for $25 and connect it up as WGB then :) Ric ... View more

If I remember this correctly you have two options: VLAN Transparent or Ethernet Bridging but not both at the same time as you seem to have. If you disable VLAN Transparent globally this will allow your Mesh APs to tag traffic on the VLANs specified and you should set the Mesh AP Ethernet port to Trunk with the permitted VLANs included. As it stands with them it in access mode, the port will only accept untagged packets from the LAN. I don't think your RAP requires configuring at all but the interface needs to be Trunk as you have it. A side note: Spanning tree is likely to **bleep** itself at some point during this setup and sometimes causes interface flapping. You've probably already experienced that but just in case.. Ric ... View more