Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Disabling 6 and 9 mb/s Cisco 1310 bridges

We all know the benefits of trimming off 802.11b from your 2.4 GHz network.  The task is quite easy, so here goes:
 
I trimmed off 802.11b entirely with the command:
 
interface Dot11Radio0
speed only-ofdm
 
I then attempted to trim off the lower two OFDM data rates.  I consulted the manual on how to do so, and here is what I found: (READ VERY CAREFULLY)
 
 
 
and entered in the following command:
 
interface Dot11Radio0
no speed basic-12.0 basic-18.0 basic-24.0 basic-36.0 basic-48.0 basic-54.0
 
The result was that all data rates were disabled except 6 & 9 mb/s.
 
Show run:
!
interface Dot11Radio0
!
 speed  basic-6.0 basic-9.0
 
The command entered to disable the lower two data rates actually did the opposite!
 
Here's the "fix" - or what worked for me.
config t
interface Dot11Radio0
speed basic-6.0 basic-9.0 basic-12.0 basic-18.0 basic-24.0 basic-36.0 basic-48.0 basic-54.0 (restored it the way it was)
no speed basic-6.0 basic-9.0 (removed the lower two data rates)
 
The "fix" is the way I would have done it in the first place, until I found the manual and read it.  Did I interpret the manual incorrectly?
 
 

Friday, February 1, 2013

How to add AP licenses to a Cisco 5508 WLAN controller

How to add AP licenses to a Cisco WLAN controller.

I recently had to do this and I must say if I had the link (below) when I first started out, life would have been much easier.

You should have a PAK from Cisco when you purchased your adder license.

 

Go to https://tools.cisco.com/SWIFT/LicensingUI/Home and register it with the controller.

 

 

 

 

In this case, the PAK is 3681J1B047A.

 

You are going to need the serial number of your controller in order to generate the license for it.  I SSH into the controller and issue either "show udi" or "show license udi".  Just make sure you are communicating with the controller you intend to upgrade licenses on!  I am sure there are other ways to get this information, but this is how I do it.

 

 

After you enter in the information, you can view and download your licenses, or wait for them to arrive via email.  I downloaded the two license files in this example since I am adding licenses to two controllers.

 

 

After downloading the file to your computer, extract the file into a directory and place the files into your tftp folder for uploading into the controller.

 

 

 

You'll notice the file is named with the serial number of the controller and the date.  This should give you a hint to which file should be uploaded to your controller.

 

Browse to your controller to view the current licenses:

 

 

 

I'm a believer in backing up your controller before doing any upgrades to it.  I am going to backup the license files, save the current configuration (you will have to reboot the controller and you don't want to lose any changes) and also backup the configuration.

 

I use the 3CDaemon tftp server since it is freeware and handles larger files:

 

 

Use a logical name for the backup of your current licenses. 

 

 

You'll know the controller licenses have been backed up by looking at both the tftp server and the GUI of the controller.  Remember to name the backup to something you can decipher 5 months from now.

 

 

Now install the new license.  The syntax is tftp://<tftp server IP address>/<filenameYouDownloaded.lic>

 

Don't forget to add the ".lic" to the filename!

 

 

 

 

Verify at your TFTP server:

 

 

After the license is installed, you are informed you will need to reboot the controller.  Note that pressing OK does NOT reboot your controller.

 

 

You might want to verify that your controller has the new licenses on the Licenses page:  I did, and it is there.  Notice how the new 150 AP license now shows that it is in use.

 

 

 

Now save the configuration before you reboot the controller:

 

 

 

Press OK to save the configuration.  Now save the config to your tftp server before you reboot.  The default name of the file is good enough for me, since it is the IP address of the controller

 

 

Verify at your TFTP server:

 

 

Now you can reboot the controller.  I am going to schedule a reboot for a weekend.  Enter in the date, time and leave the image set to normal and then click reboot.  You will be informed via the gui the controller will reboot at the time/date you entered.

 

 

You are now done adding licenses to your controller.