Black Box SmartPath AP LWN602HA Quick Start Manual

Black Box ® QuickStart Guide
for the SmartPath AP (LWN602HA)
This QuickStart guide explains how to set up a SmartPath access point (AP) (LWN602HA) so it can
make a network connection to a switch, and how to mount it on a ceiling or wall.
Attach the shorter antennas
to the 5-GHz connectors...
and the longer ones to
the 2.4-GHz connectors
on the Eth0 port side.
1
Eth0
DHCP
Server
Connect a standard
Switch
Ethernet cable with
Ethernet
Some other network devices. (They
RJ-45 connectors from
Cable
might all be incorporated in the same
ETH0 on the SmartPath
device, such as a router or firewall.)
(LWN602HA) to a switch.
2
If the switch provides
PoE (Power over
Ethernet), cabling the
SmartPath AP to the
switch will cause the
SmartPath AP to power
on in a few seconds.
Connecting to SmartPath EMS
3
Cable the SmartPath AP to an Ethernet network—a SmartPath AP connected directly to the
network like this is called a portal—or place it within radio range of a portal so that it forms
a wireless link through the portal to the wired network. This kind of SmartPath AP is called
a mesh point. By default, a SmartPath AP acts as a DHCP client and gets its network settings
automatically from a DHCP server. (You can also configure the SmartPath AP with static
network settings through the CLI. See the next section, "Using the Virtual Access Console,"
for information about making a wireless—or "virtual"—console connection to the CLI on the
SmartPath AP.)
A mesh point initially forms a cluster with its portal using the default cluster cluster0.
Through this link, the mesh point can reach the network and get its network settings
through a DHCP server. Then it can form a CAPWAP connection with the SmartPath EMS. (To
add a mesh point after changing the cluster name, first connect it to the wired network.
Next, push a configuration with the new cluster name to it from the SmartPath EMS. Finally,
deploy it as a mesh point.
CAPWAP (Control and Provisioning of Wireless Access Points) is a protocol that access points
use to contact a management device and communicate with it. After getting its network
settings through DHCP, the SmartPath AP then acts as a CAPWAP client and tries to reach
a CAPWAP server, which in this case is a SmartPath EMS Appliance. If the SmartPath AP
is configured with the SmartPath EMS IP address or domain name or if it receives DHCP
attributes specifying either a SmartPath EMS IP address or domain name, it uses those
settings to contact it.
If the SmartPath AP is not configured with SmartPath EMS settings and does not receive them
through DHCP, it then checks if it can do a DNS lookup to resolve "SmartPathEMS.<local_
domain>" to an IP address ("<local_domain>" is the domain that the DHCP server assigned to
the SmartPath AP).
Finally, if none of the previous efforts enables the SmartPath AP to contact the SmartPath
EMS, the SmartPath AP broadcasts CAPWAP Discovery messages on its subnet. If the
SmartPath EMS is in the same broadcast domain, it responds, and the two devices negotiate
a secure CAPWAP connection.
If SmartPath EMS is in the same subnet as the SmartPath AP, the SmartPath AP finds and
connects to it automatically. However, if SmartPath EMS is in a different subnet from the
SmartPath AP, you must configure settings on the SmartPath AP, the DHCP server, or DNS
server so that one of the other SmartPath EMS discovery methods can succeed:
(1) Manually configure the SmartPath AP with the SmartPath EMS IP address or domain name.
(2) Configure a DHCP server to return the SmartPath EMS IP address or domain name in one
of the DHCP options.
(3) Configure the local authoritative DNS server with an A-record or a host record that
resolves "SmartPath EMS" to the SmartPath EMS IP address.
When the SmartPath AP has a specific IP address for the SmartPath EMS, it can then
send unicast CAPWAP Discovery Request messages to it at that address.
a
Different Subnets (Use of DHCP
options or DNS resolution)
Router
Internet
b
Same Subnet (Automatic Discovery)
Firewall
SmartPath EMS
CAPWAP Server
Using the Virtual Access Console
If the switch does not
provide PoE, use the
As explained in the previous section, after connecting a SmartPath AP to the network and
AC/DC power adaptor
powering it on, it acts as a DHCP client and tries to get its network settings automatically from
(optional) to connect
a DHCP server in VLAN 1. However, if there is no DHCP server in that VLAN, if the native VLAN
the SmartPath to a
for the network segment is not 1, or if you just want to assign it a static IP address, then you
100-240 AC power
need to access the Command Line Interface (CLI) and define the network settings yourself.
source.
One approach is to use a console cable, which is available from Black Box as an accessory.
Another is to use the virtual access console. This is a way of accessing the CLI on a SmartPath
wirelessly through a special SSID that the SmartPath, by default, automatically activates for
administrative access when it has no configuration and cannot reach its default gateway.
The default virtual access console SSID name is "<SmartPath-hostname>". The default host
name of a SmartPath consists of "BB-" plus the last six digits of its MAC address; for example,
BB-123456. In this case, the name of the default virtual access console SSID would be "BB-
123456." By default, this SSID uses blackbox as the PSK (preshared key) for authenticating user
access. To access the virtual access console, do the following:
4
Using your wireless client,
scan for wireless networks.
If you are within range, an
SSID such as "BB-123456"
appears.
Select it, and when
prompted to enter a network
key, type blackbox and then
click Connect.
5
Check the IP address of
the default gateway that
the DHCP server on the
SmartPath AP assigned to
your client. Then
make an SSH or a
Telnet connection to the
SmartPath AP at that IP
address. When prompted to
enter your credentials, enter
the default Black Box login name
(admin) and password (blackbox).
C:\>ipconfig
Windows IP Configuration
Ethernet adapter Wireless
Network Connection:
Connection-specific DNS Suffix
IP Address. . . . . . : 1.1.1.2
Subnet Mask . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . : 1.1.1.1
C:\>telnet 1.1.1.1
When SmartPath EMS is in a different
subnet, do one of the following: (1) set the
SmartPath EMS IP address or domain name
on the SmartPath AP; or (2) configure a
DHCP server to return the SmartPath EMS
DHCP or
IP address or domain name; or (3) add an
DNS Server
A-record or a host record that resolves
"smartpath.<domain_name>" to the
Unicast
SmartPath EMS IP address on a DNS server
that is authoritative for that domain.
The SmartPath AP broadcasts CAPWAP
Discovery Request messages until it
receives a response from SmartPath
Broadcast
EMS, which is a CAPWAP server, in the
same subnet. Then they negotiate a
secure CAPWAP connection with each
SmartPath AP
other.
CAPWAP Client
Beacons
Wireless
Client
. :
6
After logging in to the virtual access console, you can view the status of various
functions and make configuration changes. Here are some commonly used commands.
Use these commands:
show interface
show interface mgt0
no interface mgt0 dhcp client
interface mgt0 ip <ip_addr>
<netmask>
interface mgt0 native-vlan <id>
show capwap client
capwap client server name
<string>
capwap client vhm-name <string>
show cluster
show cluster <string> neighbor
clusters <string> ...
show ssid
ssid <string> ...
interface { wifi0 | wifi1 } ssid
<string>
To see a list of commands, and their accompanying CLI Help, type a question mark ( ? ).
For example, to see all the show commands, enter show ?
If you want to find a command that uses a particular character or string of characters,
you can do a search using the following command: show cmds | include
<string>, where <string> is the word or string of characters you want to find.
Device- and platform-specific CLI reference guides are available on-line. (To learn how
to access them, see "Where to go for more information" elsewhere in this document.)
Status LEDs
The five status LEDs on the top of the SmartPath AP (LWN602HA) indicate various states
of activity through their color (dark, green, amber, and red) and illumination patterns
(steady glow or pulsing). The meanings of the various color and illumination patterns
for each LED are explained below:
Beacons
Power
• Dark: No power
• Steady green: Powered on and the firmware is running normally
• Pulsing green: Firmware is booting up
• Steady amber: Firmware is being updated
• Pulsing amber: Alarm indicating a firmware issue has occurred
• Steady red: Alarm indicating a hardware issue has occurred
ETH0 and ETH1
• Dark: Ethernet link is down or disabled
• Steady green: 1000-Mbps Ethernet link is up but inactive
• Pulsing green: 1000-Mbps Ethernet link is up and active
• Steady amber: 10-/100-Mbps Ethernet link is up but inactive
• Pulsing amber: 10-/100-Mbps Ethernet link is up and active
WIFI0 and WIFI1
• Dark: Wireless interface is disabled
• Steady green: Wireless interface is in access mode but inactive
• Pulsing green: Wireless interface is in access mode and active
• Steady amber: Wireless interface is in backhaul mode but inactive
• Pulsing amber: Wireless interface is in backhaul mode and is connected with other
cluster members
• Alternating green and amber: Wireless interface is in backhaul mode and is
searching for other cluster members
To do the following:
Check the status of both wired and
wireless interfaces
See the network settings (IP address,
netmask, default gateway) and VLAN ID
of the mgt0 interface
Disable the DHCP client
Set the IP address and netmask of the
mgt0 interface
Set the native (untagged) VLAN that the
switch infrastructure in the surrounding
wired and wireless network uses
See CAPWAP client settings and status
Set the IP address or domain name of
the CAPWAP server (SmartPath EMS
Appliance)
Set the VHM (virtual SmartPath EMS
Appliance) to which the client belongs
See the cluster name
Check for any nearby cluster members
Create a cluster and set its parameters
See a list of all SSID names
Configure an SSID
Bind an SSID to a wireless interface in
access mode