Software suggestion for 8540 WLC with mix of legacy and cos ap's

[Mats Nilson]

Hello.

We are running several sites with 8540 WLC and a mix of legacy and up to date AP's

Currently we run 8.3.143.0 AireOS on all WLC's but we have had issues, especially with the 2800 ap's and false radar detection.

According to the release notes we shouldn't have these issues, but reallity prevails.

Here is a summary of our issues today:

• Problem med false radar detaction, making APs jump to non dfs channels (channel 36 - 64). 
• AP's dropping CAPWAP sessionen with WLC, only partial session established. (spurious instances)
• AP's generating error log messages on duplex mismatch. 

In the TAC recommended releses 8.5.161.0 should be the obvious choice, but only one site has a range of access points that supports 8.5.xxx. Also I have seen some really nasty bug notices lately on the 8.5.161.0 release.

In the light of above information; should anyone recommend 8.5.161.0 relese, or should the 8.3.150.0 be sufficient?

I cannot find anything in the 8.3.150.0 regarding false radar detection that isn't fixed already in 8.3.143.0...

...but 8.5.161.0 does have two bug IDs (CSCvf38154, CSCvf21657) that isn't noted in the 8.3.150.0 release notes.

Any suggestion and advice are welcome.

Sincere Regards

[Leo Laohoo]

I got confused with the 1140.

[Scott Fella]

Which code you use, you still need to get feedback from the users and have options to upgrade or downgrade. I’m not a fan of ER images and typically wait for the fix to be released in an MR image. Again, you need to have a way to test and or get feedback after the upgrade/downgrade. We have been using 8.5.140.0 for a while with 3602’s, 3702’s and 3802’s with no problems. I haven’t upgraded because we have not had any issues so to me, that image works for us. Just have your options in case of issues.

[Scott Fella]

Like Leo mentioned, the 3502’s are not supported, so you need to figure out your options. Either find another image or possible replace the older AP’s with newer ones.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/compatibility/matrix/compatibility-matrix.html

[patoberli]

@scott
You sure about the lack of support? The matrix shows the 3500 series as supported in all 8.5 releases. It is the last release train where they are supported though, it was removed in 8.6 and newer.

[Mats Nilson]

In the release notes and wireless software support matrix the 3500 series access points are documented as supported. If someone has other data please give some documentation to back such statement.
@pat
I appreciate your suggestions and advice. We will most likely go for 8.5.161.0
@leo
No 1140, is no longer an issue. I did state that in the first post, but they are swapped out now. :)

[Paccers]

Hey Mats,

Just found the thread and wondered if you ended up going with 8.5.161.0 or 8.5.161.6 in the end? How's the stability?

I've got a mixed environment (35, 37 and 2802s) on 8.3 at the moment as well, looking to bump to 8.5 soon

[patoberli]

Have a look here, you might want to get an escalation build from TAC if those bugs could cause issues in your setup:

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/wireless/wireless-lan-controller-software/200046-tac-recommended-aireos.html#anc10