Recently I tried to join a Cisco 2702i access point to a 9800-CL wireless controller but found an issue that needed to be fixed prior to it joining successfully. I also recently joined a Catalyst 9115 access point right out of the box and experienced no issue at all, so my theory is that the 2702i had config still on it from when it was previously joined to a 5508 WLC. In this post I’ll go through the few steps I took to fix the issue and successfully join the 2702i to the 9800-CL.
Deploying and Configuring the Cisco 9800 Virtual Wireless Controller for the First Time
Deploying the new Cisco 9800-CL wireless controller is fast and easy, and by using the built-in workflows, a new wireless network can be deployed in only a few minutes. In this post, I’ll review how to deploy the virtual wireless LAN controller in VMware ESXi and stand up a very simple WLAN. We’ll also take a look at some potential gotchas and some noteworthy differences between how the new WLC is configured compared to the AireOS WLC.
Hopeful with a Dash of Skepticism: Cisco 9800 Wireless Controllers
Only a few years ago, Cisco tried their hand at a converged access wireless platform with, among other devices, the Cisco 5760 Wireless LAN Controller. To this day, I have nightmares about that box. It wasn’t fully functional, and it had huge code issues. Today, in spite of AireOS being a stable, highly functional, and well-known WLC platform, Cisco is trying it again with a range of WLCs in the 9300 and 9800 series.
However, will this brave attempt prove to have the same fate as the 5760?
Continue reading “Hopeful with a Dash of Skepticism: Cisco 9800 Wireless Controllers”
Web Browsing Problem while Connected to New Cisco Access Points
Recently I upgraded a customer’s wireless controllers to the latest Cisco 5520 WLCs, but because their environment had a mix of brand new access points and somewhat old ones, I had to use an outdated version of code that resulted in some weird client issues on the new APs.
Continue reading “Web Browsing Problem while Connected to New Cisco Access Points”
Locating Wireless Clients and Location History in Cisco Prime with CMX
Locating a wireless client in real time and viewing its location history in Cisco Prime Infrastructure is a little bit different with CMX than with MSE. In this post we’ll walk through the few steps to locate a wireless client among all your maps and then view its location history.
Continue reading “Locating Wireless Clients and Location History in Cisco Prime with CMX”
Your wired LAN is dumb…or at least it should be
Why aren’t our wired LANs more like WLANs? Wireless vendors have already been doing for years what switch manufacturers are only starting to get into in the last couple years. A rough comparison of a few attributes of typical wired and wireless networks shows striking differences in how we manage our LANs and WLANs.
Continue reading “Your wired LAN is dumb…or at least it should be”