Wireless

Embedded WLC

Posted by Nithin Eluvathingal on

I was working on Cisco’s 9115AXi-E Embedded WLC this morning. Its an amazing product. In less than 5 mins i was able to setup my Wireless network.

We can configure WLC using

  • Option 1:- CLI
  • Option 2:- WebGui
  • Option 3:- Mobile APP.

I did my deployment using Mobile APP and i share the details of how I setup my WIFI using Mobile APP.

Verifying WLC configuration.

SSID User-WI-FI and Guest WIFI

Note:-Unlike a 9800 controller, EWC flash memory does not have enough space to store all AP images. All the AP images need to be hosted on an external TFTP or SFTP server. When a second AP tries to join, EWC will point it to the external server. Without the following commands, no other AP will be able to join it:

EWC(config)#wireless profile image-download default
EWC(config-wireless-image-download-profile)#image-download-mode tftp
EWC(config-wireless-image-download-profile-tftp)#tftp-image-server 192.168.1.25
EWC(config-wireless-image-download-profile-tftp)#tftp-image-path /

EWC#write memory

Deployment Guide.

Connecting to the Provisioning SSID

Figure 1. Landing Page and Provisioning Page of the Cisco Catalyst Wireless mobile app

To connect to the provisioning SSID, use either of the following methods:

Scanning the QR code

You can locate the QR code on the back of your Cisco Catalyst Series access point. If the access point is capable of becoming a Cisco Embedded Wireless Controller, you can use the Cisco Catalyst Wireless mobile app to scan this QR code and automatically provision the AP to set your Wi-Fi network up.

Figure 2. Back view of Cisco Catalyst 9120AX Series AP
Figure 3. Scanning the QR code on the AP using the Cisco Catalyst Wireless mobile app

Manually Connecting to the Provisioning SSID

Figure 4. Manually Connecting to the Provisioning SSID using the Cisco Catalyst Wireless mobile app
Procedure
Step 1Under Settings in your mobile device, go to Wi-Fi.
Step 2Under Choose A Network, select CiscoAirProvision-xxxx from the list of available SSIDs..
Step 3In the Password field, enter the default password for the CiscoAirProvision-xxxx SSID.
Step 4Click Join. Your mobile device is now connected to the CiscoAirProvision-xxxx SSID.
Troubleshooting Connecting to the Provisioning SSID

Problem During SSID provisioning on your Android device, the login screen is repeatedly displayed in the mobile device browser.

Solution Manually navigate to the Cisco Catalyst Wireless mobile app to continue using it.

Problem If your mobile device is connected to the desired SSID but the error message “Please check your Wi-Fi connection and try again.” appears. Note that this error might also appear during Day 1 setup.

Solution Switch off your mobile data and connect to the provisioning SSID.

Problem In Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) or later versions, you may receive the error message “Connection to SSID ssid-name failed” even after repeated attempts to reconnect to the desired SSID. For more details, visit https://developer.android.com/about/versions/marshmallow/android-6.0-changes#behavior-network. Note that this error might also appear during Day 1.

Figure 5. Error message in Android 6.0 and later versions while connecting to the SSID

Solution Under Settings > Wi-Fi > Choose A Network in your mobile device, do either one of the following:

  • Solution Navigate to the desired SSID, and click Forget. After waiting for some time, return to the Cisco Catalyst Wireless mobile app to continue usage.
  • Solution Manually connect to the desired SSID and return to the Cisco Catalyst Wireless mobile app.

If your mobile device is compatible with Android 10, then you will notice the following behaviour:

  • If device location is disabled, then you will receive a prompt to enable global device location before using the Cisco Catalyst Wireless mobile app instead of app-specific location.
  • While using the mobile app, if the Wi-Fi settings on your mobile device is disabled or the mobile device is not connected to any SSID, a Wi-Fi panel appears. Depending on the case, this panel either displays an option to enable Wi-Fi or choose from a list of available SSIDs. This Wi-Fi panel displays a maximum of three SSIDs that are available for connection. To view all available SSIDs, click See More. Once the desired SSID is selected, a confirmation dialog box appears. Choose Connect to proceed with the SSID connection. Note If the Cisco Catalyst Wireless mobile app is terminated forcefully, then this connection to the SSID might be lost. However, the next time the mobile app is launched, the client device will automatically connect to the same SSID that was used previously with the app.
Figure 6. Cisco Catalyst Wireless mobile app Behavior in Android 10-compatible Client Mobile Device

Provisioning the Network

Logging in to the Day 0 Wizard

Before you begin

Your mobile device needs to be connected to the CiscoAirProvision-xxxx SSID.

Procedure
Step 1Under Setup a Wi-Fi Network, click Setup. The Provisioning dialog window appears.
Step 2Select Continue to proceed with the configuration. The Device Login page for your Cisco Embedded Wireless Controller network is displayed. Figure 7. Logging in to the Day 0 Wizard
Step 3On the Device Login page, enter the default admin credentials. The default Username is webui and Password is cisco.
Step 4Click Login.

Overview of the Day 0 Wizard

The Day 0 wizard of the Cisco Catalyst Wireless mobile app helps in the initial setup of your Cisco Embedded Wireless Controller network. You can configure certain basic parameters on the controller and network parameters to get your Cisco Embedded Wireless Controller network running.

Initial Network Configuration

Once you are logged in to the Day 0 wizard of the Cisco Catalyst Wireless mobile application, perform the following steps to configure the basic settings for your Cisco Embedded Wireless Controller network:

Procedure

Step 1On the Configuration page, under General Configuration, select the desired country from the Country drop-down list.
Step 2Under Management Account, enter the desired management credentials. Figure 8. Day 0 Wizard – General Configuration
Step 3Under IP Configuration, do one of the following: DHCP: Enable the DHCP option to get a dynamic management IP address. IP Address: Enter the static management IP address for the controller interface.
Step 4Under Wireless Networks, click + to add a network SSID. Figure 9. Day 0 Wizard – Wireless Networks Configuration
Step 5In the Network Name field, enter the desired name.
Step 6Click the Network Type radio button to choose between Employee or Guest.
Step 7From the Security drop-down list, choose the desired security type. If you selected Employee in the previous step, the available options are Personal or Enterprise. The default security type is Personal. To know more about configuring Enterprise security, refer to the Configure AAA Server section. If you selected Guest in the previous step, the security type is fixed as Consent. Go to Step 11.
Step 8In the Passphrase field, enter a passcode.
Step 9In the Confirm Passphrase field, enter the same passcode entered in the previous step.
Step 10Click Deploy. A confirmation message is displayed.
Step 11(Optional) Click Review to review the configured network settings. The Summary page is displayed. Here you can view and edit the General Configuration and Wireless Network settings.
Step 12Click Deploy. A confirmation page appears where you can enter the site name and choose to Remember the configured site. Figure 10. Day 0 Wizard – Confirmation Page

Feedback and Support

To submit feedback or to receive support for the Cisco Catalyst Wireless mobile application, write to catalyst-wireless-app-feedback@external.cisco.com or navigate to Help > Contact Us.

Figure 11. Cisco Catalyst Wireless mobile app – Help Page (Day 0)
Figure 12. Cisco Catalyst Wireless mobile app – Help Page (Day 1)

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