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twinstead

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Using Cisco Aironet 1400, can't see it or connect

Gentlemen,

I needed a more robust and powerful access point for an office area, so I purchased a Cisco Aironet.  Sadly, I expected it to be configured like a home access point (that I have lots of experience with) but instead got this little complex beast that I am fighting with.

I have no experience in Cisco command line, so this was done with the gui:

I gave it a static IP, created an SSID (cisco-shop), set that ssid to be in guest mode, and enabled WPA security with TKIP.  I then turned on both radios and viola--I can't see hide nor hair of this monster on the network, nor can I connect to it with SSID name. Nothing I have tried has helped.  What I need is to turn this complex thing into a simple access point like when you buy a home device and plug it in and configure it with WPA security. I thought I had done that.

Is there any advice you folks can give me to troubleshoot why this thing isn't broadcasting its SSID even in guest mode?
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Craig Beck
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Can you post the config file please.  Go to the System Software page and look for the config.txt link.
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tmoore1962

Where did you purchase the aironet?  If the networking and addressing is set up and radios enabled and you set it to broadcast ssid you should be able to at least see the ssid that being said if the cisco has the controller firmware unless you have a cisco controller it won't go online so you wouldn't see the ssid until the AP checks in with the controller verify your firmware release.
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ASKER

Here is the config.txt:
config.txt
tmoore1962  I purchased this at Amazon. Big mistake I had no idea how different these are from regular access points
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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Craig Beck
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Oh now I feel stupid...how do I "paste that into the cli"?
There's no need to feel stupid. :-)

Have you ever used a terminal emulator program, such as PuTTY or TeraTerm?
I have years ago.  Can I use telnet?
Yes, if you enable it on the AP.
It looks like it is already enabled. In the services summary, on the top it says Telnet/SSH: Enabled/Disabled which I assume means telnet is enabled. I stated a telnet session to the ap, entered my user and password, and got a prompt that looks like this: ap>
Ok so that's good...

At the prompt type enable then hit the enter/return key.  You'll get a password prompt, then once you've entered that you'll get a prompt which looks like this:

ap#

At that prompt, paste this in...

erase nvram:

Accept the prompts to erase the NVRAM filesystem, then let the AP reload.  When it reloads it'll have the same static IP address you configured but none of the other config.  To reconfigure the AP, telnet to it again then log in.  Once you get to the ap> prompt type enable again and enter the password again, then paste all this into the console...

conf t
dot11 ssid cisco-shop
   authentication open 
   authentication key-management wpa version 2
   guest-mode
   wpa-psk ascii 7 0969431918091A172F0F096B
!
interface Dot11Radio0
 encryption mode ciphers aes-ccm
 ssid cisco-shop
 no shutdown
!
interface Dot11Radio1
 encryption mode ciphers aes-ccm
 ssid cisco-shop
 dfs band 3 block
 channel dfs
 no shutdown
!
end

write memory

!

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Thanks for the patience and help.
My pleasure :-)