Upgrade 2125 to 2504

[jjnewbill]

Hello All, 

I have an envorinment with 18 APs wich are mostly 1242AG and one 1142 AG. I have a 2125 Wireless Lan controller servicing the network at this time. I have set up the 2504 wireless controller on a test network along with a spare 1242AG AP. The spare 1242 was previously joined to the 2125 controller until I physically wired it into a network switch connecting it to the 2504 newtwork. Initially the AP did not join the new controller and the status light blinked Red, Pink, Green continously. I then cycled the power on the AP and plugged it directly into the 2504. This is when it pulled the configuration as expected. Was this a corner case?

1. Can I expect to have to wire every AP physically into the new controller when I'm ready to upgrade? 
2. Should all of my existing AP's keep thier IP configurations and pull updated firmware from the controller? 
3. If I duplicate SSID, IP, and RF configuration options from the old controller to the new one should the joining be seamless?

A little information:

2125: v7.0.98.0

2504: v7.0.220.0

My thought is that if everything is the same with the new controller then it should take roughly an hour for the new (18 @ 2-3 minutes each) AP's to update and then join the new controller. At least 16 of my current AP's go through 1 or 2 layer 2 switches into the core switch (no vlans). The current controller is also plugged into the core switch as well. I have never had an issue plugging in a new AP and having it pull firmware before and it has always worked well for replacements.

Any tips or pointers for this? The 2125 is working fine and has an uptime of over 700 days. 

Thanks, 

Jeff

[Sandeep Choudhary · Accepted solution]

Hi Jeff,

did you setup the new controller in same network as the old one ?

If its on the same network:

Can I expect to have to wire every AP physically into the new controller when I'm ready to upgrade? 

No

Should all of my existing AP's keep thier IP configurations and pull updated firmware from the controller? 

did you assign the AP statically or via DHCP?()static will not chnage but if its with DHCP then it may change)

If I duplicate SSID, IP, and RF configuration options from the old controller to the new one should the joining be seamless?

No need to do that.

Just setup the new controller same as old one except IP address of interface but keep in same network.

Then go to old controller and configure these:

http://rscciew.wordpress.com/2014/01/22/ap-failover/

Regards

[jjnewbill]

Thanks for the update and the answer! So per the article you sent I could just have it on the same lan and have them join the new controller. I have configured all the AP's with static addresses. This is a very tedious process for me since my business is 24/7 and depends heavily on the wireless. 

Would it be a good idea to make sure that these two controllers are operating on the same firmware versions? 

Thanks, 

Jeff

[Sandeep Choudhary]

Hi jeff,

1. I can understand to assign static IP to each AP.

But What I am doing is first AP is getting IP via DHCP then I am maually setting the static IP by WLC or NCS.(Its more easier then to login to each AP via console and then do it).

2.Yes its alwayes good to have same software version on both WLCs but if you have diff hardware version of WLCs then its not possible. Like 2100 series WLC last support 7.0.250.0. and 2504 supports start from 7.0.x till latest.

Regards

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