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Problems configuring a Cisco AIR-AP2802E-E-K9C

ribuck
Level 1
Level 1

Hi all,

 

New to the forum and looking for some help setting up and configuring a Cisco AP.

 

So, I bought a AIR-AP2802E-E-K9C, well it says that on the outer box but the sticker on the AP actually says its a AIR-AP2802E-E-K9 model.

So i watched a few youtube video's on youtube which suggest that when the AP powers up it's supposed to show a "CiscoAirProvisioning" SSID, but mine show no SSID and the status light just jumps between Red & Green as if it's waiting to talk to an upstream controller.

 

So i read a different forum post which suggest it was a potential POE issue, but i've tried connecting it to a 30w POE injector and connecting directly to a Cisco 2960x but it does the same thing.

 

So what am i missing here, as the AP came with no instruction and i've struggled to find a quick start guide online.

 

When booting i did notice that the firmware states that it's using Barbados firmware image, which i expected it to say something about mobility express.

 

I've tried manually configuring it with a static IP form the CLI, which said it saved but after reboot the console just says "Waiting for Preferred uplink IP configuration" and seems to have lost the Static ip i configured and the SSID i configured.

 

Can someone please help as i need to get this setup urgently.

 

I've attached the console output from boot in a text file.

 

Cheers,

Rich.

 

1 Accepted Solution

Accepted Solutions

If you configure the DHCP scope on a L3 switch there is a way to configure an exclusion. This is also the same if you setup DHCP on a Windows dhcp server. What are configuring DHCP on?
-Scott
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View solution in original post

19 Replies 19

Sandeep Choudhary
VIP Alumni
VIP Alumni

I think AP is in CAPWAP mode, means you need to convert to mobility express AP is waiting for IP address. 

 

try using the command

 

CAPWAP AP <IP><Mask><Gateway>

 

then you need to download Mobility express image from cisco and use this post to convert it:

 

https://www.semfionetworks.com/blog/convert-a-cisco-capwap-ap-to-a-mobility-express-ap

 

Regards

Dont forget to rate helpful posts

 

Hi,

 

Many thanks for the the quick reply. The device is supposed to be the C model with the mobility express installed direct from the factory. This is the reason i bought the C model, so i didn't need to do any conversions.

 

Is there anyway of telling from the text file i uploaded which firmware it's actually running before i attempt the conversion process

 

Kind Regards,

Richard.

Once it's booted up, enter a 'show version' and post the output here.

I managed to get the AP configured through the CLI but i noted a few issues.

 

1) I can confirm it is in Mobility Express mode, but no matter how many times i factory reset the Access point it will not show the provisioning SSID 

 

2) After a restore to factory default,  and reconfiguration with a static IP the AP continues to be stuck in a loop and will not boot properly until it sees a DHCP server (e.g. stays at the Green / Red alternating LED)

 

3) Once it's booted after being connected to dhcp server, it is pingable by it's static IP address but it takes the AP approx 20+ mins to boot and provide wifi access.

 

It's working, but i'm not happy about the strange behaviour above. don't think I could ever recommend Cisco AP's after the nightmare i've faced with this one.  I've deployed many other brands of AP's an none of them were ever a hassle like this cisco one.

That reminds me, you need to attach it to a network with active DHCP for the initial setup wizard to appear. That is a requirement.

Does anyone have a link to a quick start guide that actually relates to the product.  I had a google and i couldn't find any documentation that wasn't 99% waffle, i.e. looking for a step by step setup guide.

 

Luckily i did figure that one out as i brought in a router from home to temporarily act as a DHCP Server, but what i want to know is why Cisco are making it as hard as possible for users to configure these device. I mean why should anyone need a DHCP server to setup and access point ?  Why just not assign the device a static IP out of the box for setup purposes. Luckily i had a cisco console cable to hand so managed to configure it from CLI.

 

For me it was a pain, as on our site we have a highly automated plant where DHCP servers are not permitted and everything is statically assigned.

 

Anyway enough ranting from me - Does anyone know why after 4 attempts of performing a factory restore, even when connected to a DHCP server the device does not display a provisioning SSID ?  

 

Cheers,

Rich. 

Many thanks for sharing the link to the guide, this is a lot clearer than the other guides i found.

 

Unfortunately it does present me with further challenges in regards to the DHCP side of things, which i'll need to create another post as i will need to look need to understand how i can use the controller as a DHCP server and only hand out IP's for specific device types i.e. Cisco Wireless boxes or to lock it down by Mac address.

 

Looks like i have a bit of research to do.

Rich,

For many of these AP’s dhcp is mandatory. That makes it easy to setup. Static assignment are supported only after you configure the access points. What seems to be missing in your process is staging. If you stage these in a lab or temp environment, you can bring up the access points and configure static address. However, dhcp is really preferred these days over static and in your case, mac addresses reservations would be the best route. Place AP’s in its own subnet.
-Scott
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Hi Scott,

I understand what you are saying about putting the AP's in their own management VLan for the purposes of provisioning which makes sense, then create a DHCP scope for the AP's with MAC Address filtering.

 

I suppose i could then Tag other vlans that i may want Wifi access for and also create additional DHCP Scopes & Mac filtering for each specific Vlan.

 

I just need to understand why my mac address filtering isn't working, as i created a test scope about 10 mins ago and created a local Mac white list filter - But for some reason it's allowing devices to connect that are not white listed, so need to look into that a bit further.

Well you need to have an exclusion defined also. This way, only defined Mac reservations will get an ip address, all other devices will not.
-Scott
*** Please rate helpful posts ***

Hi Scott Thanks for the quick response and your  help.

 

I can't see anywhere you define an exclusion, the only other option i can see is to create a blacklist.  Where do i find the exclusion settings ?

Hi Scott,

When you say create an exclusion - Are you assuming that i'm using a Windows / linux based DHCP server, as currently i'm just using the built in DHCP server on the AP controller.

 

It's a long story but on our plant IT side of things, everything uses static ip's and DHCP servers are not permitted, so trying to avoid having to spin up a Windows DHCP Server, hence trying to sneak in the DHCP via the AP and struggling to find any exclusion options.

 

cheers,

Rich.

 

 

Rich,

Just saw this post. Ap DHCP is typically only used for wireless clients. It seems like you need to setup a standalone switch near your desk and stage these access points. You can always find some DHCP server software to run on your machine or if you have a L3 switch, that should do it also. The ap isn’t meant to supply DHCP to every device.
-Scott
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