Cisco's Mobility Express solution seeks to simplify the management and speed the process of creating a wireless network without utilizing a traditional Wireless LAN Controller. Intended for small business and supporting a maximum of 50-100 access points depending on which model AP acts as the Master AP, its goal is to bring the automated intelligence features associated with traditional wireless controllers directly onto the access point platform.
The Mobility Express platform may be a suitable replacement for administrators supporting traditional Autonomous versions of Cisco Access Points, however always check the Release Notes to see if a specific feature is supported since Mobility Express is not designed to provide feature parity with traditional controllers. Also note that autonomous code is no longer being released for any Cisco Wave 2 AC Access Point.
This post will explore the initial configuration of Mobility Express platform.
There are two ways to access the Mobility Express setup, traditional CLI through the console port and wirelessly using the setup specific CiscoAirProvision SSID. Whether using the CLI script or the CiscoAirProvision SSID initial setup can be completed in a matter of minutes. Upon completion of the setup script, the access point will have been assigned its network information, including the static IP address you will use to access the management interface, and the optional initial SSID setup for both a corporate and guest wireless network and their networks.
Would you like to terminate autoinstall? [yes]:
Enter Administrative User Name (24 characters max):
Enter Administrative Password (3 to 24 characters):
Re-enter Administrative Password :
System Name [Cisco_1e:ab:c0] (31 characters max):
Enter Country Code list (enter 'help' for a list of countries) [US]: us
Configure a NTP server now? [YES][no]: yes
Use default NTP servers [YES][no]: yes
Enter timezone location index (enter 'help' for a list of timezones):
Management Interface IP Address: x.x.x.x
Management Interface Netmask: x.x.x.x
Management Interface Default Router: x.x.x.x
Cleaning up Provisioning SSID
Create Management DHCP Scope? [yes][NO]: x
Create Employee Network? [YES][no]: x
Employee Network Name (SSID)?: x
Employee VLAN Identifier? [MGMT][1-4095]: x
Employee Network Security? [PSK][enterprise]: x
Employee PSK Passphrase (8-38 characters)?: x
Re-enter Employee PSK Passphrase: x
Create Employee DHCP Scope? [yes][NO]: x
Create Guest Network? [yes][NO]: x
Enable RF Parameter Optimization? [YES][no]: x
Client Density [TYPICAL][Low][High]: x
Traffic with Voice [NO][Yes]: x
Configuration correct? If yes, system will save it and reset. [yes][NO]:
If you choose to use the CiscoAirProvision option the same initial features are available using the GUI. The CiscoAirProvision SSID is Open access and is removed after the initial configuration is done and the AP is reset.
The initial configuration of the Mobility Express solution is very streamlined and can be accomplished in just a few minutes.
