A couple of questions about Flexconnect Migration

[Terence Lockette]

Hello everyone,

I am in the process of planning out a migration for a branch office that is currently connected to our main campus via an ethernet private line.  This location is currently layer 2 and I am looking to move it to layer 3.  I want to ensure that my APs do not lose connectivity to the WLC during the migration process.  My questions are...

1. Is flexconnect only for layer 3 links or can I use the APs in flexconnect over layer 2 prior to migrating the remote office to layer 3?

2. If it's for layer 3 links only, can someone provide some tips or documentation on migrating so that APs don't lose connectivity to WLCs after layer 3 migration has completed?

3. Do APs have to operate in flexconnect mode over layer 3 links or can I still use local mode?

I'm trying to avoid having to take the APs to the main office, reconfigure them, and then re-mount them at the remote office.

Thanks!

[JPavonM]

1. Is flexconnect only for layer 3 links or can I use the APs in flexconnect over layer 2 prior to migrating the remote office to layer 3? APs operate in Layer 2 only. Flexconnect mode is to locally switch traffic to specific VLANs when configured on the WLAN profile, or centrally forwarding to the controller by default if not configured (Guest or BYOD)

2. If it's for layer 3 links only, can someone provide some tips or documentation on migrating so that APs don't lose connectivity to WLCs after layer 3 migration has completed? APs remember the last connected WLC as far is it has the same IP addreess. This mean that when you change IP subnetting in the remote branch and you connect the Flexconnect AP to a new VLAN with diferent IP addressing, the AP will look for the WLC it has been registered last time.

3. Do APs have to operate in flexconnect mode over layer 3 links or can I still use local mode? APs operate over L3 links as far as there is a route pointing to the WLC management IP address.

HTH
-Jesus
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[Scott Fella]

Just want to add to this. You need to keep in mind that FlexConnect is a mode which allows traffic to not have to be tunneled back to the WLC.

1. FlexConnect can be deployed on L2 or L3, because it’s just a mode

2. You always want to define the aps high availability to set the primary, secondary or tertiary controller information

3. Aps can be in local mode or FlexConnect mode, locally switch or centrally switch, depends on your design. For a remote location, FlexConnect local switching would be better to limit the traffic from transversing over the link. You want to keep local traffic local and only have traffic that need to come back transverse the link to save on overhead.

In the end, you need to test, so that you know what to expect when you change the modes or which changes you should make first and when. This way you are comfortable with the changes you will make.