FortiWLC – Replacing Access Points

Replacing Access Points

You can replace APs in one of the following conditions:

• If you have a faulty AP, you can replace that with a new AP of the same model as the faulty AP.
• Migrate from an older AP model to a newer AP model.

Before Replacing Access Points

The following are important points to remember before you replace your access points: • Replacing one AP model with another usually preserves the settings of the original configuration. A newer AP may have settings that the older one does not; those settings will be set to the default.

• Despite the fact that some AP settings and configurations can be carried over when replacing an AP, users cannot simply replace an AP400 with a different model (such as an AP1000). The two models have very different capabilities and configuration specifications and should not be considered synonymous.

Replacing Access Points

How to Replace Access Points

If you are replacing existing APs with a newer model of APs, use the ap‐swap command to ease the task of updating your site’s AP settings. To use the ap‐swap command, you need the MAC addresses of the new and old APs. You can check MAC addresses of the APs to be replaced with the show ap command.

The ap‐swap command equates the MAC address of an AP that you want to replace with the MAC address of the new AP. By linking the numbers to an AP ID in the replacement table, the system can assign the configured settings from the old AP to the new AP. The settings that are tracked are the channel number, preamble, and power settings. After inputting the swap information, use the show ap‐swap command to double check the AP MAC settings before physically swapping the APs.

Once you have double-checked the MAC addresses, take the old APs off-line by disconnecting them from the system. Replace the APs. When the APs are discovered, the replacement table is checked, and the changes are applied to the new APs. Once the new AP has been updated, the entry is removed from the replacement table.

To summarize the steps to replace the APs:

meru‐wifi (config)# show ap (gets the serial numbers of the APs you are replacing) meru‐wifi (config)# swap ap 00:oc:e6:00:00:66 00:CE:60:00:17:BD meru‐wifi (config)# exit meru‐wifi# show ap‐swap

 AP Serial Number        New AP Serial Number 00:0c:e6:00:00:66       00:ce:60:00:17:bd

AP Replacement Table(1 entry) meru‐wifi# show ap

After you completed the commands for replacing APs, disconnect the old APs and make sure they show Disconnect/off-line status) and then replace the old APs with the new APs

Replacing Access Points

Configuration Updates After AP Replacements

TABLE 25: Configuration Updates After AP Replacement