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You are here: Home / Cisco Wireless / Converting an Autonomous Access Point to Lightweight AP

Converting an Autonomous Access Point to Lightweight AP

Written By Harris Andrea

Introduction

In my previous article, I talked about basic configuration of a Cisco WLC controller. In that post I stated that there are two wireless architectures, Distributed and Centralized.

Distributed architectures incorporate Access Points (APs) that are standalone without any central management. The APs in distributed architecture are also called Autonomous Access Points.

On the other hand, Centralized architectures incorporate Access Points which are controlled and managed by a central Wireless LAN Controller device. The APs in centralized architecture are also called Lightweight APs.

In this article we will see step-by-step how to convert an Autonomous AP to a Lightweight AP in order to implement a centralized WiFi design in our network.

Step by step guide to convert an Autonomous AP into Lightweight AP :

In this tutorial I’m using Cisco 3602i access point.

Step 1.

Download the appropriate image for the Lightweight AP from the Cisco website. Download and install tftpd32 software on your computer. Open tftpd32 and browse the folder where you downloaded the software image. Copy the image name.

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Step 2.

Connect to the Access point with a console cable. First you need to check the running software and version with Show version command. If the software image contains “W7” in the image name then it’s an autonomous AP and if it contains W8 then it’s a LWAP (Lightweight access point).

ap#show version

Cisco IOS Software, C3600 Software (AP3G2-K9W7-M), Version 15.2(4)JB6, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)

Step 3.

Connect computer and access point with an Ethernet cable. Give interface BVI1 an IP address. Make sure your computer and access points are in the same subnet.

ap(config)#int bvi1
ap(config-if)#ip address 10.10.10.1 255.255.255.0
ap(config)#ip default-gateway 10.10.10.2 255.255.255.0                <—  (Your computer’s ip address)
ap(config-if)#no shut

Step 4.

Check the connectivity between the computer and access point

ap#ping 10.10.10.2
Type escape sequence to abort.
Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 10.10.10.2, timeout is 2 seconds:
!!!!!
Success rate is 100 percent (5/5), round-trip min/avg/max = 1/2/4 ms

Step 5.

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Finally, Here comes our magical command to install LWAP image on an autonomous access point.

ap#archive download-sw /force-reload /overwrite tftp://10.10.10.2/ap3g2-k9w8-tar.152-4.JB6.tar

examining image…
Loading ap3g2-k9w8-tar.152-4.JB6.tar from 10.10.10.2 (via BVI1): !
extracting info (286 bytes)
Image info:
    Version Suffix: k9w8-.152-4.JB6
    Image Name: ap3g2-k9w8-mx.152-4.JB6
    Version Directory: ap3g2-k9w8-mx.152-4.JB6
    Ios Image Size: 215552
    Total Image Size: 13773312
    Image Feature: WIRELESS LAN|LWAPP
    Image Family: AP3G2
    Wireless Switch Management Version: 7.6.100.0

Now the new image will be downloaded and the AP will reboot

Step 6.

To verify run “show version” command once the AP will come up

APe428.9ba4.79da#sh version

Cisco IOS Software, C3600 Software (AP3G2-K9W8-M), Version 15.2(4)JB6, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)

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Filed Under: Cisco Wireless

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About Harris Andrea

Harris Andrea is an Engineer with more than two decades of professional experience in the fields of TCP/IP Networks, Information Security and I.T. Over the years he has acquired several professional certifications such as CCNA, CCNP, CEH, ECSA etc.

He is a self-published author of two books ("Cisco ASA Firewall Fundamentals" and "Cisco VPN Configuration Guide") which are available at Amazon and on this website as well.

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