Wireless Access

Hi,

The AP-225 datasheet reports the "worst case scenario power consumption" for the AP-22x is 13.5W (POE) in "restricted mode", which I belive refers to U.S. resgulatry restrictions (I am in the U.S.). It then mentions "Efficient mode PoE – power save with 802.3af PoE and limited functionality" and lists what feautures will get disabled.

Given that 13.5W is within the power spec for POE (802.3af) would any of these features actually get turned off if we connected the APs to a POE (non POE+) switch? Does the AP detect that it's connected to a non-POE+ port and simply disable these features even if there is at least 13.5W available?

http://www.arubanetworks.com/pdf/products/DS_AP220Series.pdf

Thanks,

Mike

I seem to recall being told when evaluating these that the af detection may sometimes not be perfect and the 225s could sometimes end up out of power-save mode on an af port, but I never checked to see if it happened.  I do have a number of them on a variety of af switches right now so if I knew a command to do so, I could look.

Michael,

Restricted versus Unrestricted is not related to any regulatory status. It refers to what features/functions are enabled or disabled on the Access Point.

In restricted mode, the following features are disabled or limited (AOS 6.3.1 or higher)

1. Second Ethernet port disabled (can be either one),
2. USB interface disabled,
3. 2.4GHz radio in 1x3 mode (single transmit chain active)

The way the AP-225 determines whether it needs to run in restricted versus unrestrictive is as follows:

1. Software checks several GPIO pins every 60s:
   1. DC power detected
   2. 802.3at PoE detected
   3. 802.3af PoE but with a PoE voltage of at least 51V detected
2. If any of these three conditions is true: unrestricted mode (and PWR LED green)
3. If none are true: restricted mode (and PWR LED amber)
4. If the AP operates in unrestricted mode and the status changes (all conditions false), the AP switches to restricted mode (and PWR LED amber)
5. If the AP operates in restricted mode and the status changes (one or more of the conditions true):
   1. Reboot if DC power is detected. Mode will change to unrestricted after reboot (and PWR LED green).
   2. Do nothing if 802.3at POE or 802.3af PoE (w/51V) is detected (warning message). Mode will remain restricted (and PWR LED amber)

Best regards,

Madani

Real world data:

All "operational state" are the same as "current hw state"

All the connections listed at POE-AT are from PPoE+ switches.

All the connections listed at POE-AF also say they have the usual restrictions.

This is across a plant of HP Procurve and Cisco af switches of various ages, also a PowerDSine af injector here and there.  There

are definitely some APs patched directly to switches via a short patch cord in there as well, so I guess don't expect any of that 51V af behavior from most equipment, unless the output from that controller command is less than awesome.