I have a draytek P2260 poe switch which can provide up to 15.4 watt of power to devices like IP phones. This switch is a 24-ports 802.3af PoE PSE
However Cisco Aironet AP require 18.5 watts and at the moment they are powered through an injector.

Just out of curiosity, how possible is it to combine the power of 2 ports to reach 18.5 Watt ?

Not going to happen.

Keep the current setup with the injector or try a switch that can provide more PoE wattage (PoE+) to individual ports.

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I have a 1142 that I purchased that needs to be set to factory defaults so that I can configure it. I do an escape at the boot sequence and I get to the

ap:

prompt, the reset instructions that Cisco provides says that I should rename the old config.txt and reboot and that I will then be able to start my reconfig. The problem is that I can’t find a config.txt file in the flash space:

Directory of flash:/

2  -rwx         260   Jan 1 1970 00:04:28 +00:00  env_vars3  -rwx      112947   Apr 1 2011 15:17:10 +00:00  event.log5  drwx         128   Mar 1 2002 00:01:54 +00:00  c1140-rcvk9w8-mx9  drwx         256   Apr 1 2011 14:30:32 +00:00  c1140-k9w8-mx.124-21a.JHB18  -rwx        5144   Mar 1 2002 00:00:27 +00:00  private-multiple-fs

I checked in the directories listed above and still found no config.txt. I appreciate all help since I am stuck and can go no further.

Thanks,

Is this a AP or LAP (lightweight AP) ? – if I read the IOS right, it’s a LAP – and the LAP would have no config of it’s own but connect to a controller…

You would need to change the firmware to operate autonomusly…

tsg

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I have over 20 1200 series PoE Aironets in a large building, using multiple vlans + WPA.

Starting about 6 weeks ago, random waps will just stop responding to ping, ssh, http, and stops serving clients–I have connected via serial, and I dont get anything… Once I powercyle though, it works fine for an inderterminate amount of time, at which case it goes back to not responding.

I have switch PoE ports on the PoE switch, switched out to using PoE injecters, used a different switch, etc.

Software versions:

System Software Filename: c1200-k9w7-tar.123-8.JA
System Software Version: 12.3(8)JA
Bootloader Version: 12.2(8)JA

I also did some sniffing on this vlan (mgmt vlan) which all it currently has is the 20-odd aironets, and about 5 switches. I am seeing a bit of stp traffic, maybe a couple stp packets / second, with the current root bridge cost of 8.

I dont have any other ideas on what is going on….

Any ideas?

This ended up being a bug in the firmware… Found it in a memory dump of one of the Aironets, and then finally found reference to it buried in a Cisco doc. Upgraded with a fix, and they have been stable ever since.

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I bought a Cisco Aironet AIR-AP1231G-A-K9 off of ebay and am having issues with it.

The first and most alarming issue is the cycling of the status lights. I read the manual and it does not show that as a possible state.

Here is a video of the status lights -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubuBkHCuwWg

It does pull an IP address via DHCP on my Sonicwall, but is unreachable via web browser. I pinned out my own console cable, and nothing comes up over the console when done in accordance with the manual.

I tested the power supply and it is making 47.8vdc, and makes 47.8vdc when under load (connected to the Aironet).

It doesn’t appear to be broadcasting an SSID, but of course if it is, it would be easy to miss since I don’t know what it is (used unit).

Bad unit?

Thanks for your time.

The continuous blinking lights, although undocumented, were caused by the Aironet not being able to reach the WLC (wireless lan controller). Long story short, it was in LWAPP mode, also known as lightweight mode where it connects to a controller. The key is to get it back into “autonomous mode” (to use as a standalone WAP) via a change in firmware with tftp (see below).

The next issue is that the Cisco pinout for RJ45 to DB9 is incorrect – pin 6 and 3 need to be swapped on the RJ45 to get the communication working.

Lastly, I used the following steps to change the firmware:

Here is the tftp server I used on a windows box – http://tftpd32.jounin.net/

Follow these steps to revert from LWAPP mode to autonomous mode by loading a Cisco IOS release using a TFTP server:Step 1 The static IP address of the PC on which your TFTP server software runs should be between 10.0.0.2 and 10.0.0.30.Step 2 Make sure that the PC contains the access point image file (such as c1200-k9w7-tar.122-15.JA.tar for a 1200 series access point) in the TFTP server folder and that the TFTP server is activated.Step 3 Set the timeout value on the TFTP server to 30 seconds.Step 4 On the PC where the TFTP server is located, perform these steps:a. Disable any software firewall products, such as Windows firewall, ZoneAlarm firewall, McAffee firewall, or others.b. Ensure all Windows files are visible. From Windows Explorer, click Tools > Folder Options > View; then uncheck the Hide extensions for known file types check box.Step 5 Rename the access point image file in the TFTP server folder to c1200-k9w7-tar.default for a 1200 series access point, c1130-k9w7-tar.default for an 1130 series access point, c1240-k9w7-tar.default for a 1240 series access point, and c1250-k9w7-tar.default for a 1250 series access point.Step 6 Connect the PC to the access point using a Category 5 (CAT5) Ethernet cable.Step 7 Disconnect power from the access point.Step 8 Press and hold MODE while you reconnect power to the access point.Step 9 Hold the MODE button until the status LED turns red (approximately 20 to 30 seconds) and then release.Step 10 Wait until the access point reboots, as indicated by all LEDs turning green followed by the Status LED blinking green.Step 11 After the access point reboots, reconfigure it using the GUI or the CLI.

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I try to configure a Cisco Aironet 1042N Series Access Point for Office Use. Web-browser interface is disabled by default. I must enable it for configuring but when I try to configure it from CLI I get this error.

APc471.fe8f.f47d#configure terminal
                  ^
% Invalid input detected at '^' marker.

Also I don’t have any WLC device in my network I just want to use it for Office Network Extend but it gives this error frequently.

*Mar  1 00:38:57.175: %CAPWAP-3-DHCP_RENEW: Could not discover WLC using DHCP IP
. Renewing DHCP IP.
Not in Bound state.
*Mar  1 00:39:05.183: %CAPWAP-3-ERRORLOG: Invalid event 38 & state 2 combination
.
*Mar  1 00:39:05.305: %DHCP-6-ADDRESS_ASSIGN: Interface GigabitEthernet0 assigne
d DHCP address 10.1.1.67, mask 255.255.255.0, hostname APc471.fe8f.f47dTranslating "CISCO-CAPWAP-CONTROLLER.xxx.xxx"...domain server (10.1.1.3)

It looks like the AP is currently configured as “Lightwieght”

This means it must work with a Wireless controller to function correctly, see the below link for the procedure to convert it back to autonomous:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/customer/docs/wireless/access_point/conversion/lwapp/upgrade/guide/lwapnote.html#wp161272

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I’m shopping around for some new Wi-Fi routers, and the Cisco Aironets look pretty good. There are some differentiating features between the models; in particular, the 1260 is designed for “challenging RF environments” (via the ability to add antennas, apparently), versus the 1140.

Now, my office is in NYC, which is heavily congested in just about every imaginable way. My iPod picks up ~10 WiFi SSIDs near the main access point, and you can assume that everybody and their brother is using their iPhone along with god-knows how many other devices, on both WiFi and 3G/4G. On a worst-case scenario, let’s say that I’ll have 50-100 people connecting to this particular access point. Does this constitute a “challenging RF environment”, or is this a fairly typical, non-extreme load? More practically, does this justify the additional expense of getting the 1260?

Note: there are 3 other access points at various places in the building, but the one in the lobby will be the most heavily-used one due to its location.

It sounds to me like their definition of a “challenging RF environment” refers to the need to use directional antennas to limit the propagation of signal in unwanted directions or to focus reception on a narrow physical area where clients will be located.

I suppose you could try to do something with directional antennas to direct your radio(s) into your space and to limit radiation into areas where you won’t have clients. I’d rather just buy a radio that does that for me (Xirrus and Ruckus are a couple that I’m familiar with that have such functionality “out of the box”– there are probably others but I haven’t kept up). You’re going to have to do some experimentation with antennas (and likely a spectrum analyzer) to figure out the best way to do this yourself. There are a couple of posts on the Server Fault blog that can give you some basics about RF.

You’re going to have a really hard time getting the upper end of your intended range of 50-100 clients to associate with a single radio, no matter how expensive it is (especially in an environment where the band is noisy already). You’re better off getting a couple (or three) radios and deploying them in a physically distributed manner than trying to cram everybody on one radio.

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In our building we have around 25 1200 series Aironets, with a bit of overlap in some areas. Up until this point, we have had them deployed in alternating 1/6/11 channels, but we are wondering if we would get better performance if we used the auto-channel select feature.

In looking around, I have seen comments that this feature should not be used as the WAP does a channel scan only on the initial radio startup, but I have not found this in any Cisco docs.

Anybody have anymore information, or real-world experience with this feature?

Thanks!

-Josh

In my experience with that feature you said is true (I have a few hundred HP Procurve 420′s deployed across 5 buildings), the auto detect is only done on initialization/boot. It’s a good feature for when you need to roll a lot of them out very fast, but if you can handle making sure they’re toggled, then there really isn’t much to be gained. The intermediate channels tend to give me trouble with various devices that I don’t tend to experience on 1/6/11. This is all incidental, but that would be my two cents.

-Nathan

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