WLC 5508 Upgrade Scenario

[isoffice1]

Hi all,

We have a pair of Cisco 5508 Wireless LAN Controllers running in Active/Standby mode. Software version is 8.0.133.0.

We have 100 access points deployed, 88 x 1602i and 12 X 1242AG.

I was looking to (initially) upgrade the WLC to 8.2.170.0. However, upon reading the Release Notes for this version (and later versions as well) I see that the 1240 Series Access Points are not among the "Supported Access Point Platforms".

Does this mean that my existing 1242AG access points will drop off our wireless network?

I do have some 1852i access points to replace the 1242's but I wanted to stagger the WLC upgrade and deployment of access points.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Best regards,

John P

[superego]

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/release/notes/crn80mr5.html

Last support for 1242 AP in WLC is in 8.0 train. The latest in that version is 8.0.152.0.

[Leo Laohoo]

You say you have two WLC in Active/Standby (and not in HA SSO), right?
Upgrade one of them past 8.0.X.X and move all the newer APs there. Move all the 1240 to the controller still running 8.0.X.X.

[isoffice1]

Hi guys,

Thank you for your input.

Our WLC instance is licensed for 100 devices and , as I'm led to believe, these licenses 'sit' on the active appliance and then transfer to the standby appliance in the event of a failover. We wish to retain this configuration to ensure resiliency.

I do have enough 1852i access points in stock to replace the older 1242 models. Its just that I would rather not do an upgrade and access point replacement simultaneously. Rather, I would like to upgrade the WLC first, wait a while, then replace the access points.

I just want to know that even though the Release Notes for version 8.2.170.0 state that the 1242 access points are not supported, will they still work or will they be dropped by the WLC?

Many thanks,

John P

[Sandeep Choudhary · Accepted solution]

if you upgrade the WLCs to 8.2.170.0 then 1242 APs will not able to join to WLC because of the software compatibility issue.

Regards

Dont forget to rate helpful posts

[Mikey Boy · Accepted solution]

Hi, if you upgrade to to 8.2 your 1242 AP's will not be able to join the WLC. The newest code you can go to for them to function is 8.0.152

The first supported release for the 1850 is 8.1, so you are stuck between a rock and a hard place. You need to ditch the 1242's.

Regards

[Scott Fella · Accepted solution]

If you upgrade to a code that isn’t supported for that ap model, after the reboot, that ap will not join. What you need to do is look for a code that both AP’s are supported and upgrade to that, however if you are not in that situation where there is a code that is supported on both, then you will have to run a parallel environment if you need to have both online at the same time.

[isoffice1]

Hi guys,

Many thanks for your prompt replies. They were most informative.

I suspected that, as Mikey Boy stated, I was in no-mans land here and would have to suck it up and do the job wholesale.

Thank you all very much for your input, it has cleared a lot up for me.

Best regards,

John P

[pwwiddicombe]

Interestingly, the Cisco compatibility matrix shows that 1242 AP's are supported up to 8.0, but the 1242AG table shows "-" only for the highest supported release.  Does this mean simply that it's untested ?

(Similar situation with a few 1242AG still functional)

[Leo Laohoo]

No, it means the document has not been updated.