Wireless Access

Hi Guys,

On of my clients uses an Aruba 650 controller with 9 registrered (on the controller) Aruba AP 125's.

3 AP's I cannot add to the controller though as the controller doesn't pick them up (they're in the same VLAN).

I really don't know how the AP's were setup in the past, cause I inherited them from a former System Administrator, but I suspect that they have a static IP assigned to them and a Master IP has been set on them, leaving them in an unusable state as they're looking for a non existing controller.

I tried to connect to them via console but all I can see is (repeatingly):

▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒

So it's printing output, but oviously I'm not able to understand it ;)

I've tried a bunch of baud rates: 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 115200. Also tried them with flow control XON/XOFF and/or parity bits set.

When the baud rate is set to 1200 or 2400 the signs are looking like letters and numbers in between the output above, but still nothing meaningfull.

If I'm not mistaking I can log into the console of the AP's experiencing these issues and perform a factory reset or set a different Master IP?

Any help would be much appreciated!

Best regards,

Sidney Ligthart

The console settings for an AP should be 9600-8-N-1. Based on the output you're seeing, the settings are incorrect.

What terminal program and cable are you using?

It should just be 9600, 8, 1, none.  If that is not working, those access points are ruined.  I don't know why that would happen to all of them at the same time, however.  If there was a power surge that might hurt them, BUT  it is very unusual that they will all have the same symptoms.  ....let's try to get the console right, first.

Thank you both for you quick reply!

I was using putty.

I'm using the baby blue Cisco Serial cable with a USB-to-Serial converter in between.

Also, I was using the 9600-8-1-n-n.

At least now I know for sure what exact rates and settings they should be operating at.

Unfortunately I won't be at the office until next Monday, so this will have to wait a bit.

Next week I will try to take one off the wall during the break that is working and see if I have better luck on that one, just to rule out that it's not my laptop or cabling causing the issue.

Thanks for confirming the rates, I will update/close my case based on my findings next week.

Have a good one!

Best regards,
Sidney

Hi All,

As promised a little status update from my end.

I found another AP that was connected to a switch port that was flapping and I could not find in the controller. Decided to give that one a try.

The serial connection connected instantly with 9600, 8, 1, none, none.

Found out that it tried to get an address via DHCP but the VLAN it's in doesn't have a scope. The AP that were migrated before I took over have static IP's assigned to them via the controller.

I will upgrade the entire network shortly and introduce new VLAN's. At the same time I will get rid of the static IP's and let them discover the controller via the management VLAN while also getting an IP from a reservation on our DHCP servers.

Thanks again and have a nice day!

Best regards,

Sidney