Controllerless Networks

My client installed 13 units of IAP 315 & 3 units IAP 215 managed by a single virtual controller.

Out of 13 units, about 8 units are powered by PD-3501G PoE injector & the rest powered by HPE 1920 PoE+ switches.

Those IAP 315 powered up by PD-3501G will show amber light on it s PWR led. When this happen, the wirless will be weak.

Any advise? IAP 315 is running on v6.5 firmware. Could this be due to intelligent power management feature?

#AirheadsMobile
#ALE

PD-3501G is 802.3af compliance, while AP 315 is able to work with 802.3af, but with limited features :

 

From datasheet :

• Power over Ethernet (PoE): 48 Vdc (nominal) 802.3af/802.3at compliant source - Unrestricted functionality with 802.3at PoE
• When using IPM, the AP may enter power-save mode with reduced functionality when powered by an 802.3af PoE source (see details on Intelligent Power Monitoring elsewhere in this datasheet)
• Without IPM, the USB port is disabled and transmit power of the 2.4 GHz radio chains is reduced by 3dB to 15dBm max when the AP is powered by and 802.3af PoE source

 

Best Regards

Yopianus Linga

How to disable the IPM?


#AirheadsMobile

The AP 315 is configured as instant access point running on virtual controller & I can't locate the IPM function within the virtual controller gui. I tried to disable the USB port but it doesn't help.


#AirheadsMobile

Without IPM, the USB port is disabled and transmit power of the 2.4 GHz radio chains is reduced by 3dB to 15dBm max when the AP is powered by and 802.3af PoE source Does this apply to IAP mode?


#AirheadsMobile

I would collect the tech-support for an AP that has the problem and search for "Power Status".  It should tell you what the possible problem is.  "Operational State" is how the AP is operating right now:

 

Power Status
------------
Operational State POE-AT: No restrictions
----------------- -----------------------
Current HW State POE-AT: No restrictions
LLDP Negotiated POE Power 25.5W

 

Sorry, can explain further? I am lost.


#AirheadsMobile

Go to More> Support.  Select an AP with the problem and Run an AP tech support dump:  http://www.arubanetworks.com/techdocs/Instant_423_WebHelp/InstantWebHelp.htm#UG_files/Log_servers_monitoring/ViewingLogs.htm?Highlight=tech support

 

When it returns the text file, search for "Power Status".  Paste that output into here..

Hello,

I have a similar problem. I'm using IAP-315s with an Aruba 2920-48G PoE+. I've already disabled LLDPs on the ports and even set to provide 20 watts but to no avail. Here is the result of the More > Support > Power Status.

 

Power Status
------------
Item                        Value
----                        -----
Power Supply                : POE-AF
LLDP Power                  : 0.0W
Current Operational State   : USB power disabled; 2.4GHz radio: 15dBm, 5GHz radio: 18dBm

You should enable LLDP.  That is the way the AP negotiates higher power.

PD-3501G POE injector does not support LLDP and is a "hard" 802.3af POE source. It cannot deliver the amount of power to ensure unlimited operation of the IAP-315.

If that's needed, you should use PD-9001GR instead (802.3at).

Actually, if you enable IPM, the IAP-315 should probably be ok with an 802.3af POE source, since the actual power consumption is generally much lower than the worst case number.

IPM will monitor the actual power consumption, and will most likely find that the 802.3af POE budget is sufficient to operate the AP without applying any restrictions. System LED should be green in that case.

IPM is disabled by default.

Will look into that. I'll post an update.

@Onno I'm looking for the IPM option in the WebUI and can't find it but I just set it in the CLI. Went to the Master AP and set

 

ipm

enable

commit apply

rebooted but still the same thing.

The APs power light is still amber.

I'm not very familiar with how to configure IPM in Instant code, but assuming you enabled it and IPMis not engaging and restrictions (can you verify that?), the LED "should be" green.

I'm confirming with our engineers that it was indeed implemented that way.

@Onno.

I should add something. I have 15 IAP-315s, six is connected to a HP 2920-48G-POE+ Switch (J9729A), and nine is connected to a different switch of the same model. 

The 6 were working fine but the 9 are in power saving mode.

When I enabled IPM even the 6 that were ok went to power save mode as well.

I only mentioned this detail now as I thought it was not relevant. Sorry.

 

I now disabled IPM again and the 6 went back to green with the 9 still having amber lights.

 

I'm thinking that it may have to do with my switches' configurations?

From the WebUI of the switch that has the 6 green, there are no options to configure the PoE settings nor can I change the LLDP settings.

The one that has the 9 amber has PoE and LLDP configuration options.

Hmm, that's confusing. Enabling IPM should never result in a more restricted operating mode. I'm susepcting that the software implementation around the IPM feature may have some issues and simply change the LED to amber regardless of actual power status.

Also, I thought (given the subject of this thread) that you're using POE injectors. But that is not the case?

Looks like the switch with 6 APs connected allocates the right amount of power, but somehow the other switch only delivers 802.3af to the 9 connected APs. What is the allocated power budget per the switch UI?

I'm not using PoE injectors but the switches has built in PoE, it was just that this thread has the most similar problem to mine. Sorry for the confusion.

 

With the 6 green the switch is providing them with 20.80 watts of power. I've checked the result of Maintenance > Support > AP Tech Support Dump with the following result:

Power Status
------------
Item                        Value
----                        -----
Power Supply                : POE-AF
LLDP Power                  : Successfully negotiated at 20.8W
Current Operational State   : No restrictions (Overridden by LLDP)

Though I must say that I didn't change any LLDP settings on that switch and it just worked.

 

The 9 amber is currently getting 20 watts, that setting was from when I manually set the power when I had LLDP disabled. It hasn't changed since then even when I enabled LLDP again nor when I enabled IPM. When I didn't make any changes yet they where getting 14-16 watts of power. It varied.

For reference this is the current result of the Tech Support Dump for the 9:

Power Status
------------
Item                        Value
----                        -----
Power Supply                : POE-AF
LLDP Power                  : 0.0W
Current Operational State   : USB power disabled; 2.4GHz radio: 15dBm, 5GHz radio: 18dBm

OK, so for whatever reason LLDP is not successful on the 9 access points.

In order to understand the IPM behavior, can you confirm the Instant software version you're using?

It is 6.5.4.4_62887.

Hi Kian,

 

Please have a look at this thread: https://community.arubanetworks.com/t5/Wireless-Access/315-on-PoE/m-p/368648

Hi,

I checked IPM system LED functionality on version 6.5.4.4_62887 and it is absent. Proper IPM LED functionality will be introduced in version 6.5.4.5. As a reminder this is just a visual cue. Detailed status of the AP is reflected in the tech-support report under the "Power Status" heading.

 

Therefore please disregard the system LED colour when IPM is enabled in this software release. In the 6.5.4.5 release the system LED colour will be green if no restriction is applies and amber if one or more restrictions are applied. 

 

-Eugene

Hello Eugene and Kenjiyong,

 

But I've checked the tech-support report and this was the result:

Power Status
------------
Item                        Value
----                        -----
Power Supply                : POE-AF
LLDP Power                  : 0.0W
Current Operational State   : USB power disabled; 2.4GHz radio: 15dBm, 5GHz radio: 18dBm

I'm not sure but is 15dBm for 2.4GHz and 18dBm for 5GHz it's best or maximum transmit power for both radios?

 

 

The AP is capable of doing 18dBm (conducted, per chain) on both radios. In power-save mode, max power is reduced to 15dBm on 2.4GHz to reduce power consumption.

I suppose that our concern for this thread is why does IAP-315 shows amber light isn't?

I have 2 units if IAP-315 powered on, 1 is amber right and 1 is green light. 

---

@kian.hibewrote:

Hello Eugene and Kenjiyong,

 

But I've checked the tech-support report and this was the result:

Power Status
------------
Item                        Value
----                        -----
Power Supply                : POE-AF
LLDP Power                  : 0.0W
Current Operational State   : USB power disabled; 2.4GHz radio: 15dBm, 5GHz radio: 18dBm

I'm not sure but is 15dBm for 2.4GHz and 18dBm for 5GHz it's best or maximum transmit power for both radios?

 

 

---

 

amber light maybe an indiciation of issue to customer standpoint. customer would ask why is there amber light, therefore it's good for us to fix it.

Just to re-iterate, the system LED indicator is working fine in non-IPM mode and reflects the true operating state of the AP. In IPM mode the system LED indictator is not working properly and has been fixed internally at Aruba awaiting the next release of 6.5.4.x.

 

-Eugene 

@eobrien

 

But doesn't what my tech support dump and what Onno says mean that my APs are running on Power Saving mode? The tech dump shows that my 2.4GHz radios is running on 15dBm. And Onno did say that:

---

@eobrienwrote:

Friday

The AP is capable of doing 18dBm (conducted, per chain) on both radios. In power-save mode, max power is reduced to 15dBm on 2.4GHz to reduce power consumption.

/Onno

---

I know that it's only the 2.4GHz but we do still have people that have devices that run wifi on that frequency only.

 

Yes, that confirms the AP is in power-save mode.

I'm assumiong the tech support dump is for the AP with amber LED?

And are you saying that that AP also has IPM enabled?

Before I disabled LLDP, Dot3 LLDP TLV was enabled by default but it went to Power Saver mode. Next I've tried to disabled both as was my previous message, then I enabled LLDP-MED and same thing, then enabled both and same thing.

 

I've also tried to set the wattage manually to 20 watts which was the maximum wattage for the 315s from what I've read in the manual and same thing.

 

After every changes I've made I to rebooted the IAPs. Maybe the IAPs are not initiating the LLDP negotiation?