Wireless Access

Was reading over the Aruba Instant documentation (6.1.3.1-3.0.0.0) seems like the soon to be released RAP-3WN/3WN-US/3WNP/3WNP-US is a supported device of Aruba Instant. Will be interesting to see how this is going to work :smileyhappy:

A little digging suggest that it's a RAP2 with 3G support, so you can probably assume it will work like the RAP5

I also believe it will be PoE as well. Looking forward to this product :)

my tech is having issues getting the aruba rap3 installed.  any one set up a Rap3 yet?

The RAP-3 products ship with Instant software. To converti and deploy it with a controller, you'll need 6.1.4.x AOS, which is a limited release. Contact Aruba Support if you need it.

Great thanks for the info.  WE do not want to be to upgrade the production controller to the new AOS since it is limited release.  Very helpful info, thanks!

when can we expect "normal" RAP-3 support?

Not sure what you mean by "normal" RAP-3 support, but there's no plan to introduce a version of the RAP-3 that will operate similar to the current RAP-5 or RAP-2 out of the box. The RAP-3 will continue to ship with Instant software, requiring conversion to operate with a controller. Note that Aruba offers tools to make the conversion a zero-touch event.

Until RAP-3 support is folded into the AOS 6.2 release (roadmap), the limited release 6.1.4 code is what's needed to support RAP-3 on a controller.

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@oharms wrote:

Until RAP-3 support is folded into the AOS 6.2 release (roadmap), the limited release 6.1.4 code is what's needed to support RAP-3 on a controller.

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that is what i meant, when dont we need a limited release, that would be when 6.2 is released right.

That's correct.

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@oharms wrote:

Note that Aruba offers tools to make the conversion a zero-touch event.

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I do not want to install the limit release 6.1.4 AOS, but I do want to convert RAP-3 to a RAP.  Where can I find the tool?

 

Thanks

 

Conversion will always require pointing the device to a controller running AOS. Without 6.1.4, conversion is not possible.

Has anyone tried to create a mesh network with two RAP3s? I am trying this in a lab environment (Just for Fun), and not having much success. I am able to provision both AP’s, and when they are both “wired”, work well – I then disconnect the Mesh Point from the wired network, and within a few minutes the virtual controller (Mesh Portal) indicates that the Mesh Point  is down.  I have followed the instructions in the Instant 6.1.3.1-3.0.0.0 user guide – But still no Joy! The Mesh Point  goes down once removed from the wired network (Possibly a DHCP issue????). Any thoughts…. Thanks!

MSPA, did you ever get this working?  I'm trying to do exactly the same thing to extend wi-fi into an area where we do not have cabling.  Both APs come up and I can see them playing nicely together when wired, but same as you, as soon as I unplug the second one it drops off.

Sinnwell, I have not had much time to try anything else out. I will embark upon the endeavor again this week. If I find a way to get it to work, I will update this post. And if you could do the same, I would appreciate it. Thanks for the reply,

Sinnwell - Soooo...... I have had some time this evening to "play" again...... But still no luck! I have tried just about every setting, IP assignments, factory resets etc.... Etc. Still the same problem. Within 5 Mins the mesh point goes down. I did watch the mesh point as I "rebooted all" APs after it had gone down (although the mesh point did not show in the controller) the mesh point (not connected to Ethernet) did reboot?  So I have just watched the mesh point for about the last 30 mins...... It seems to power cycle every 4-8 mins as if it is searching for the virtual controller, once no "WLAN" connection can be detected, it just keeps going through the cycle??

 

I think its time to reach out to one of my local Aruba SE's for some answers, before I pull my hair out!!  This was just a personal quest to see if I could get it to work, and now it's driving me nuts!!  There MUST be a way to do it!! I'll keep you posted. 

So the definitive answer is;

 

The RAP3 can not be used to create a a mesh node. I guess I should have done my homework on the RAP3s Radios first! The RAP3 is a single radio IAP 2.4 GHz - Therefore can not be used for mesh, as mesh requires the 5 GHz radio for the backhaul. 

 

Thanks to my SE for pointing out the fact that  the RAP3 only operates in the 2.4 GHz - LOL (That made me feel small). 

 

So, as far as my lab goes..... All was not a loss, it was fun, and I learned some other interesting things about the Virtual Controller. One of those things was;  The graphics for the WebUI render much faster using Safari than they do using Chrome! 

 

But, Sinnwell..... That does not help your cause, as you need the functionality of the mesh node! So the only thing would be to upgrade the APs to APs with two radios. Sorry for the bad news!