EWC AP 9115

[Jean Welz]

Hello,

Hello,

I have an AP that I connected to a Cisco WLC 9800 and it is now part of the wireless environment. While the AP remains registered to the WLC, can I access it and run the ap-type ewc-ap command to convert it to an EWC AP and place it on a separate wireless instance? If I do that, will the new wireless instance be reachable alongside the existing one even though both are on the same LAN?

[Mark Elsen]

  - @Jean Welz    You can not do that and have the same AP remain available on the  WLC 9800 ,

  M.

[Jean Welz]

Thanks, Mark, for your reply. What I mean is that I want this AP to function as an EWC on its own and no longer be connected to the controller. I plan to use it later in a different location, where it will act as the EWC and join another DHCP LAN. For now, I’m just testing to confirm that it works.

[Mark Elsen]

  - @Jean Welz      You should avoid preparing the EWC-AP on the same subnet as the current 9800 controller,
                              because it can confuse access points. They initially use a capwap broadcast to find a controller.
                             The EWC solution is no longer advised because it is EOL :
                                           https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/wireless/embedded-wireless-controller-catalyst-access-points/wireless-ewc-access-point-eol.html

  M.

[balaji.bandi]

When you convert the AP to EWC, that will be disassociated from Cat 9800, and AP become WLC controller Alone it self.

Note : EWC is end of Life.

check the deployment guide :

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/wireless/embedded-wireless-controller-catalyst-access-points/white-paper-c11-743398.html

will the new wireless instance be reachable alongside the existing one even though both are on the same LAN?

yes that will be another controller in the LAN.

[Jean Welz]

Thanks a lot. As a client, I should see two SSIDs: the current one from the WLC and a new one (CiscoAirProvision). I’ll be able to use both without issues, right?

[balaji.bandi]

if WLC 9800 have other AP and broadcasting SSID and the One Converted EWC also broadcasting SSID - YES

[Jean Welz]

However, I think it won’t work regarding to this.

[MD Irshad Ansari]

Hi Jean,

Once an AP joins a Catalyst 9800 WLC it runs in lightweight CAPWAP mode. In this state you cannot directly switch its mode to EWC. To do that you must disconnect it from the WLC and reload it using the command ap-type ewc-ap, which re‑images the AP. It cannot remain joined to the 9800 and operate as an EWC controller at the same time.

Running an EWC instance on the same LAN as a Catalyst 9800 is not recommended because both controllers will respond to AP discovery, leading to conflicts. Best practice is to place the EWC deployment in a separate VLAN or subnet, especially if the 9800 is already in production.

Hope this helps.