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What newer APs will work to expand a W-IAP204/205 wireless network?

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  • 1.  What newer APs will work to expand a W-IAP204/205 wireless network?

    Posted Jul 14, 2021 12:08 PM
    Hello All,

        We use W-IAP 205s in our Wireless network. If we wanted to extend this network with more APs, what are the suggested models since the 204/205s are no longer available? Is there some documentation on adding another AP? Best Practices in this scenario? Please let me know at you convenience.

    Thank you
    Brian

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    Brian Sawyer
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  • 2.  RE: What newer APs will work to expand a W-IAP204/205 wireless network?

    MVP EXPERT
    Posted Jul 15, 2021 04:22 AM
    You need to ensure that the maximum supported firmware by the 204/205 is also supported by the minimum supported firmware of the new APs. Currently the AP-200 will support ArubaOS TBD or Instant 6.5. Therefore, any new APs you purchase must support the same firmware versions.

    The End Of Life page advises the best option for a replacement AP, I'd suggest you consider the AP-5xx series providing your firmware versions are supported.

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    Craig Syme
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: What newer APs will work to expand a W-IAP204/205 wireless network?

    Posted Jul 15, 2021 08:21 AM
    Thank you Craig for your response and suggestions. I will research this.

    Sincerely,
    Brian

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    Brian Sawyer
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: What newer APs will work to expand a W-IAP204/205 wireless network?

    EMPLOYEE
    Posted Jul 15, 2021 05:07 AM
    Please note that W-IAP models are Dell-branded, and according to the Dell support site (and my knowledge) you can't mix Aruba and Dell Instant APs in the same cluster. It's still unclear to me if you can install Aruba Instant firmware to Dell W-IAPs, at least the consensus is that it is unsupported. I don't think that Dell still sells W-IAP. For controller APs it is known that they work with either Aruba or Dell controllers, but also there you need to take care of the support status of the full installation.

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    Herman Robers
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    If you have urgent issues, always contact your Aruba partner, distributor, or Aruba TAC Support. Check https://www.arubanetworks.com/support-services/contact-support/ for how to contact Aruba TAC. Any opinions expressed here are solely my own and not necessarily that of Hewlett Packard Enterprise or Aruba Networks.

    In case your problem is solved, please invest the time to post a follow-up with the information on how you solved it. Others can benefit from that.
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: What newer APs will work to expand a W-IAP204/205 wireless network?

    Posted Jul 15, 2021 08:28 AM
    Thank you Herman. I appreciate your input and advice. I will research this further. We may need to look at investing in newer APs altogether. 

    An additional question that my supervisor wanted me to ask - can wifi extenders (of any brand) be connected to this wifi network? 

    Sincerely,
    Brian

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    Brian Sawyer
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: What newer APs will work to expand a W-IAP204/205 wireless network?

    EMPLOYEE
    Posted Jul 15, 2021 10:04 AM
    That might technically work, but expect poor performance as wifi-extenders perform as a repeater and use the same WiFi channel for uplink and client downlinks. It may work for home usage with a handful of devices, don't depend on it in a larger scale. There is a reason that Wifi extenders are cheap, and enterprise APs have a significantly higher price point.

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    Herman Robers
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    If you have urgent issues, always contact your Aruba partner, distributor, or Aruba TAC Support. Check https://www.arubanetworks.com/support-services/contact-support/ for how to contact Aruba TAC. Any opinions expressed here are solely my own and not necessarily that of Hewlett Packard Enterprise or Aruba Networks.

    In case your problem is solved, please invest the time to post a follow-up with the information on how you solved it. Others can benefit from that.
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: What newer APs will work to expand a W-IAP204/205 wireless network?

    Posted Jul 15, 2021 11:38 AM
    Thank you Herman for your help and candidness. 

    Sincerely,
    Brian

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    Brian Sawyer
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    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: What newer APs will work to expand a W-IAP204/205 wireless network?

    Posted Jul 21, 2021 10:40 AM
    We have IAP 215s, we switched over to Aruba support and installed the aruba firmware on our Dell APs without issue. we also migrated out clearpass and airwave to aruba (fresh installed then improted databases). Our IAP 215s are runing 8.6.10 firmwares.

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    scott young
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    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: What newer APs will work to expand a W-IAP204/205 wireless network?

    EMPLOYEE
    Posted Jul 21, 2021 11:08 AM
    Scott, is that as simple as downloading the Aruba Instant firmware, then upload that to the AP as if you were to upload Dell firmware?

    Or do other steps need to be taken to have the AP accept the Aruba branded firmware?

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    Herman Robers
    ------------------------
    If you have urgent issues, always contact your Aruba partner, distributor, or Aruba TAC Support. Check https://www.arubanetworks.com/support-services/contact-support/ for how to contact Aruba TAC. Any opinions expressed here are solely my own and not necessarily that of Hewlett Packard Enterprise or Aruba Networks.

    In case your problem is solved, please invest the time to post a follow-up with the information on how you solved it. Others can benefit from that.
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: What newer APs will work to expand a W-IAP204/205 wireless network?

    Posted Jul 22, 2021 03:41 AM
    you can do it one of two ways. you can use your dell airwave to push out the aruba firmware to the cluster. just make sure your airwave is up to date to support the firmware version, i believe if you do it this way it pushed the firmware to both image 1 and image 2 banks on the AP so if you did a factory reset it would maintain the aruba firmware and not revert back to the backup dell firmware. I have also manually done a update via the console and you need two reboots to install on both banks.

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    scott young
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    Original Message


  • 11.  RE: What newer APs will work to expand a W-IAP204/205 wireless network?

    Posted Jul 21, 2021 11:36 AM
    That is great to hear and may be the solution we need. So in order to access the Aruba firmware you have a paid subscription to Aruba Tech Support? I am also interested in what steps you have taken to get this on newer firmware.

    thank you,
    Brian

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    Brian Sawyer
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    Original Message


  • 12.  RE: What newer APs will work to expand a W-IAP204/205 wireless network?

    Posted Jul 22, 2021 03:56 AM
    we were migrating our clearpass and airwave support to aruba so this gave us access to firmwares too. our IAP215s arent under support (end of life 2023) and being replaced in 2023. our migration process was fairly simple

    backup airwave config / visual rf db, backup clearpass config and sponsored guest config (remember to backup any custom images)

    shutdown both VMs

    downlaod and install the exact same version number of the aruba airwave (so the db will import) it wont import with any variation to version number) i.e 8.2.12.1 wont install 8.2.12.0 (it will fail). also keep the IP the same so the license migration is simple

    clearpass is a little easier. we installed the same version branch (6.6) and ticked the ignore DB version which allows you to import the DB into any version then we upgraded to 6.10. the only issue we had was our guest network lost the custom background images and had to tweak the theme. but 2 minute job to remport and fix. everything else worked.

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    scott young
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    Original Message


  • 13.  RE: What newer APs will work to expand a W-IAP204/205 wireless network?

    Posted Jul 22, 2021 12:01 PM
    thank you Scott for sharing. I will document this and see if we can implement this as well.

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    Brian Sawyer
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    Original Message


  • 14.  RE: What newer APs will work to expand a W-IAP204/205 wireless network?

    Posted Jul 23, 2021 03:54 AM
    Hi, the approach that I have taken is to avoid mixing APs with different capabilities. If you are opting for re-use, group the IAP-2xx in a contiguous area. The area with new AP you can then also re-design to current (and futureproof) quality requirements so that Teams and availability (secondary coverage) is optimal.
    Original Message


  • 15.  RE: What newer APs will work to expand a W-IAP204/205 wireless network?

    Posted Jul 27, 2021 12:04 PM
    thank you for your suggestions, too Mbaars.

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    Brian Sawyer
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    Original Message