Cisco Outdoor AP Not Being Recognized by WLC

[christian.sheppard]

Hello Everyone!

I hope all of you are doing great and would like to thank anyone in advance for taking their time to read this. I am sure that I am not the only one that has experienced this. I did find a couple of posts on these forums with the same/similar issue I am having. I have tried their solutions and it does not appear to be working for me, hence my new post. It's probably something simple that I am missing so I apologize for taking up your time, if that is the case.

Scenario:

We have installed a Cisco 1560 Outdoor AP however, it is not being "seen" on our wireless controller (Cisco 5520).

Details:

We have recently installed an outside AP (1560) and powered it up using its corresponding power injector. It has been connected to a switch (known good) and the AP's switchport has been configured to match other switchports being used for APs, so we know that's not the issue.

The AP is cycling through blinking red/green/amber lights, which according to Cisco, means that it's trying to connect to the WLC via discovery/join process. I have added the MAC address of the AP onto the WLC's AP Authorization List under Security->AAA->AP Policies (Certificate Type is MIC). The policy configuration of the WLC is set to accept MICs. I have also rebooted the AP after making these configurations/connections.

It is my understanding that at this point, the AP should be showing up on the WLC with its MAC as its name, perhaps under Wireless->Access Points->All APs. There may be some geographical settings that need to be made at this point, which is fine, but the problem is that it's not showing up anywhere on the WLC so I cannot make those changes. Again, I appreciate any and all responses.

AP: Cisco Aironet 1560 Outdoor AP

Wireless Controller: WLC 5520

Supporting Articles that I followed:

Cisco Aironet 1560 Series Outdoor Access Point Hardware Installation Guide - Troubleshooting [Cisco Aironet 1560 Series] - Cisco

[christian.sheppard]

Hi Haydn et al, sorry it took so long to get back. Finally had time to check up on this. The output of the command asked to run shows some very enlightening thing. I think it does have an IP address but the WLC is just straight up rejecting it. Any thoughts? Sorry for the red, had to redact certain things, but I can confirm that the AP does have an IP and that it sees our DNS server, WLC, etc..

<Image Deleted>

[Arshad Safrulla]

AP is in Mesh mode and Mesh mode 1560 AP's are not supported in any of 8.3 AireOS codes. So as I mentioned before the easiest option is to console the AP and change it to local mode, or upgrade the WLC.

Upgrade is recommended only if all your AP's are supported 8.5+ AireOS codes and you might have to upgrade the CIMC as well. Below is TAC recommended releases

Recommended AireOS Wireless LAN Controller Releases - Cisco

[christian.sheppard]

Arshadsaf, OK I see what you were saying with the second part of your response now. I tried accessing the AP several times but everytime I see the login prompt, it gets drowned out with random outputs. I am not able to actually login anymore. The first time I sort of "ninja'd" my way in but the outputs are hitting the CLI so fast now that it's no longer possible. Is there a way to stop this output from hitting the CLI so that I can login? Also, I am assuming the default credentials are cisco/cisco, though I have tried admin as well.

[Leo Laohoo]

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@christian.sheppard wrote:

Also, I am assuming the default credentials are cisco/cisco

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Cisco/Cisco

[Rich R · Accepted solution]

The output won't stop you from entering anything on the console although it can be confusing.

That's why it's best to have all your commands in notepad and then paste them onto the console.

If you're not sure then practice on another AP.

[christian.sheppard]

@Rich R @Leo Laohoo @Arshad Safrulla @Haydn Andrews @Scott Fella 

All, this appears to have solved it! I thank everyone for chimming in and giving some much needed compass bearings. I think we had a couple of different issues going on here. The AP being shipped in Mesh mode was definitely one of them. I wish there was a way to accept more than one solution as you all contributed to solving the puzzle. Thank again for being kind enough to help out a fellow tech! I'll try to pay it forward.

[Leo Laohoo]

I suspect the AP was configured or ordered with MESH-mode.  

I had several orders of these.  They were ordered with LOCAL mode but the factory sent out MESH. 

Boy, we had fun with that shipment.  

[Rich R]

Agreed I reckon the AP is not in local mode.  Always stage your outdoor APs before sending them out to be installed.