Wireless Access

Hi There,

We have an AP175P that was configured and tested at Head office, and has now been deployed to site but will not grab an IP and connect to the controller.

This is the second time we have done this, and I believe there maybe an issue with the AP and/or Controller that is causing this issue and I'd like to get it investigated.

The PS LED flashes Red/Green and the ETH LED is solid green, but the AP does not appear to be sending any traffic as I cannot see a MAC address on the port it is connected too.

The AP has been power cycled, and network cables have been re-seated to no avail. 

 

Can anyone help please?

 

Thanks,

Are you using a power injector or 802.11at compliant poe?

- From the AP console what can you see?
- what's providing IP to the AP ?
- the red/green happens when the AP is booting up , that's normal .

Thank you everyone,

 

Unfortunately the AP is already on site and we don't have console access to the device.

The IP should be provided by a DHCP server running from a Juniper 4200.

We're providing 802.11at POE.

 

So its most likely that the AP can't contact the controller or the master then and is constantly rebooting?

 

Thanks again for you time.

What is the access point using to discover the controller? You should be able to see the Mac address in the cam table. Is the switch it is plugging into POE as well? When you provisioned it did you use the injector?

Would be using ADP and the IP as a backup

I can’t see the MAC address in the CAM table unfortunately.

Yes it is, it’s a 2200.

No the provisioning was also done with a switch.

 

Do you have other devices using that same VLAN/ IP space?

yes there are multiple other APs that are currently up and running correctly in that IP space

Is it possible to unplug one of the APs that is working and connect the one that is not working

Thank you Victor

 

Unfortunately that's not possible but I can get the AP moved to another port

 

I've checked and the port is in the correct VLAN.

Couple of suggestions...

 

1. You say you're using ADP. This is multicast based. Assuming this site is routed, is the multicast routing going to work all the way from the controller VLAN to the AP VLAN in question? Are you 100% the other APs in that VLAN aren't statically provisioned, and therefore not dependant on ADP?

 

2. If the AP is struggling to contact the controller, you should be able to ping it between boot cycles. Assuming you allow ICMP through the Juniper, can you ping it periodically, then it goes away, comes back ok? This should prove the unicast/routing path.

 

3. In the Juniper, can you see the DHCP lease for the AP, and does it align to the AP MAC correctly?

 

4. Assuming the switch type used to provision is the same as the one onsite, can you interogate the PoE draw/delivered on the AP port? What does it show? If the cable to the AP (on the wall or whatever) is new and not well crimped/made, you might be loosing PoE delivery potential down the cable, and the AP might not be able to get enough. I assume when you provisioned it, you did it with a shorter cable on a desk or similar into the switch. That won't have as much loss, so it's different.

 

Thanks.

 

Sorry,  I was incorrect about ADP, it's actually using a DNS record of aruba-master which resolves to the IP of the master controller.

 

The AP is not actually getting an IP as I pointed out earlier, nor is its MAC address showing in the switch port table, therefore no DHCP lease.

 

Here are the details of the MAC address and POE stats for that port.

 

nwa002@kw9611ax302> show ethernet-switching table interface ge-0/0/21
Ethernet-switching table: 0 unicast entries
VLAN                                                 MAC address                Type                               Age     Interfaces
VLAN-NETAPMGT                           *                                      Flood                               -         All-members
VLAN-VOICE-22                              *                                      Flood                               -         All-members

 

{master:0}

 

nwa002@kw9611ax302> show poe interface ge-0/0/21

PoE interface status:

PoE interface :                          ge-0/0/21
Administrative status :            Enabled
Operational status :                 ON
Power limit on the interface : 30.0W
Priority :                                       Low
Power consumed :                  6.8W
Class of power device :          4
PoE Mode :                               802.3at

 

{master:0}

It doesn't look like the AP is able to draw enough power. This makes me suspect the cable as per my suggestions.

 

Whilst this might be challenging, I think you've only 2 options.

 

1. Get somebody to re-terminate both ends of the cable. Might work.

 

2. Get the AP down, and plug it directly into that switch port at ground level (use a 3m patch or similar). Whilst this is difficult, if it works it will prove everything out except the cable which means you know the problem for sure.

 

How long is the cable, and was it run in by a proper cabling guy?