Wireless migration from 5508 to 3504

[Bwilson13]

Hello all,

Due to limited budget for PS I will be reviewing and taking on doing a wireless hardware refresh of our single 5508 WLC to an H/A 3504 WLC.  There's no real guide for doing the migration between hardware models.  So I have to questions about the process.

1) Can the 3504s be on the same management VLAN as my existing 5508 but with different IPs?

2) The APs are on management VLAN so will that be a problem/cause an outage?  Will they remained joined to the 5508 until I point them to the new 3504s?

These questions may seem rudimentary but I don't have a lab environment to vet this scenario.

Any references would be greatly appreciated too!

[Jhosbell Verdesca De Aguiar]

Hi!

Regarding your questions:

1) Can the 3504s be on the same management VLAN as my existing 5508 but with different IPs?
A: YES, THEY CAN BE AND FOR SURE, WITH DIFFERENT IP TO AVOID NETWORK ISSUES

2) The APs are on management VLAN so will that be a problem/cause an outage? Will they remained joined to the 5508 until I point them to the new 3504s?
A: YES, THEY WILL STAY CONNECTED TO THE 5508 UNLESS THERE IS AN OUTAGE, IF THEY CAN DISCOVER THE 3504 THEY WILL FAILOVER TO THAT WLC.

What I would do is:

1. Use this tool to migrate the config:
https://cway.cisco.com/tools/WirelessConfigConverter/

2. Open the resulting file and modify the IP addresses of the Management and Dynamic interfaces (to avoid duplicated IP Address).

3. Fix whatever is missing from the config.

4. Add few APs to the new WLC to test in a controlled environment.

5. Once you feel everything is working fine, you can move all the APs using this tool: https://www.iptel.com.au/ap-migration-tool.html

Hope that helps.

[Rasika Nayanajith]

Pls note that 3504 can handle max 150 APs

Answer to your 2 questions as below

1. Yes

2. Unless APs are on different vlan (to WLC mgt vlan), you should be fine. AP will not learn about new 3504 IP until you do so with DHCP option 43 or DNS or static with AP primary/secondary option.

I would suggest not to configure mobility peering between 3504 & 5508

HTH

Rasika

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[Bwilson13]

Hi Rasika - I failed to mention that the APs are on the same management VLAN as the 5508.  They're 3700s and have static IP address assignments.  Based on what you said it looks like there could be an outage if the APs discover the 3504 on the same management VLAN as the 5508?

Thanks for your response!

[patoberli]

As all the others already have mentioned, it should work.
Enable the master controller mode on the 5508 first, that should hinder the APs from joining the 3504. As long as you don't configure the 3504 as a secondary WLC on the AP configuration (or primary), they should not switch the WLC by themselves.

[Leo Laohoo]

1. Yes.
2. Depends if the 5508 & the 3504 are running the same firmware. If they are, then no. If they don't, then there will be an outage. It will also depend on what APs you've got. 3504 firmware support starts from 8.4.X.X. I'd recommend running the latest 8.5.X.X code.
If the APs in question is 2700/3700 and the controller is running 8.0, 8.1 & 8.2, please note that the APs will do a "double-download" when going to 8.5 (and later). Double-download means the AP will download the firmware TWICE, reboot TWICE and will take about 25 to 30 minutes (minimum) before the AP will become "ready".