To Enable BLE Radio in CW9166 AP

[madhurimuppalla]

Hi,

How can we enable BLE Radio in CW9166 Access Point, can we do it through C9800-CL WLC  or AP CLI?

[Leo Laohoo]

BLE can be enabled using GUI or CLI, however, DNAC appliance and DNA Spaces are mandatory requirements.

[00u1ab28axbOOzhqE5d7]

Is this error related for a C9130AXI-B. AP is in critical condition, BLE is off. Not sure what is going on here. Any help would be appreciated. If I'm not mistaken I think it is version 17.9.3.50 if if that helps. Also not sure what power source the customer is using, waiting to find out. 

[Leo Laohoo]

The 9800 command to enable BLE of the AP is: 

ap name <NAME OF THE AP> ble admin enable

 And to check, use the following command: 

show ap name <NAME OF THE AP> ble detail

[Rich R]

@00u1ab28axbOOzhqE5d7 suggest you open a new thread as this discussion is not about an "error".

Provide full details of your AP issue - what is wrong, what troubleshooting and debugging has been done, what logs are you seeing? "AP is in critical condition" doesn't really mean anything.
"BLE is off" - did you have it enabled before?

Suggest to update WLC to TAC recommended version as per the link below.

[madhurimuppalla]

Hi,

1. After executing the below command, the CW9166I-E CLI displays the Device Status as 'open,' indicating operational status. Similarly, the c9800-CL WLC CLI shows the Admin state as 'UP,' confirming successful activation of BLE functionality.

ap name <NAME OF THE AP> ble admin enable

Can we rely on this status data alone to confirm that the Access Point's BLE is active and ready for connection, 
or do we need to verify through additional measures?

2.If Enabling the Access Point through the command requires integration with DNA Spaces,
I would like to know more about the procedure. Could you please offer a reference or detailed instructions for adding the Access Point to DNA Spaces.

[Leo Laohoo]

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@madhurimuppalla wrote:
2.If Enabling the Access Point through the command requires integration with DNA Spaces,
I would like to know more about the procedure. Could you please offer a reference or detailed instructions for adding the Access Point to DNA Spaces.

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Talk to the Cisco AM/SE (Wireless)/PSS.  Different customers will get different answers.  

Official stance is to get a DNAC appliance first.  

Unofficially, there "something" going on in Cisco and I am involved in a beta whereby the maps are uploaded to DNA Spaces through a different method and the WLC needs to be on 17.12.X.

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@madhurimuppalla wrote:
Can we rely on this status data alone to confirm that the Access Point's BLE is active and ready for connection, or do we need to verify through additional measures?

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Depends on the firmware of the controller.  One of our controllers is on 17.6.4 and the BLE routinely crashes and the BLE will have to be manually "bounced" from regularly.  

Use the following command to identify the APs with BLE in a Down state: 

sh ap ble sum | exclude Up

[madhurimuppalla]

Hi,

Is there any C9800-CL WLC or CW9166 AP CLI Commands or steps through WLC GUI to enable the scan status for the BLE interface on the Cisco AP and to configure the BLE profile to specify the advertisement settings for the BLE interface? In addition, are there any additional settings or configurations that need to be enabled on the AP to establish a connection to its BLE interface for management and monitoring purposes?

Here is the current BLE configuration for the AP:

AP Name: AP****.****.****

AP Model: CW9166I-E

AP Ethernet MAC: 149f.430e.dc80

BLE Interface State: Open

BLE Admin State: Up

BLE mode: Base (Native)

BLE MAC: b43a.31ab.****

BLE Profile: No Advertisement

Scan State: Disabled

[Leo Laohoo]

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@madhurimuppalla wrote:

Is there any C9800-CL WLC or CW9166 AP CLI Commands or steps through WLC GUI to enable the scan status for the BLE interface on the Cisco AP and to configure the BLE profile to specify the advertisement settings for the BLE interface? In addition, are there any additional settings or configurations that need to be enabled on the AP to establish a connection to its BLE interface for management and monitoring purposes?

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DNA Spaces is required to get BLE to even do anything.

The only thing the controller can do is enable/disable the BLE radios.  What happens after that is up to DNA Spaces.  Without DNA Spaces the BLE radio is useless.  

[madhurimuppalla]

Hi, thank you for the response.

We are currently in the process of accessing DNA Spaces login. Meanwhile, we are exploring the procedure for enabling BLE functionality and configuring CW9166 Cisco Access Point as Advanced gateway.

I referred to this link:  https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/spaces/iot-services-wireless/b_iot_services/m_ap-as-a-gateway.html  for information.

How can the configuration of a Cisco AP be changed from Base (Native) gateway to Advanced gateway for BLE functionality? Additionally, where should the configuration of scan status and BLE profile be enabled: in the DNA Spaces GUI or the vWLC GUI?

[Leo Laohoo]

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@madhurimuppalla wrote:
Inspect for loose connections or damaged wiring that could lead to random activation.

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DNA Spaces

[madhurimuppalla]

Thank you, 

Could you please share a reference or guide on how to configure Advanced Gateway for BLE, the scan status and BLE profile in DNA Spaces?

[Rich R]

https://spaces.cisco.com/iot-services/
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/spaces/iot-services-wireless/b_iot_services/m_ap-as-a-gateway.html

All of this can be found easily with a Google search!

[Rich R · Accepted solution]

See https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/wireless/catalyst-9164-series-access-points/catalyst-9166i-9164i-dg.html#InternetofThingsintegration for a summary of the IoT capabilities and requirements.