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Cisco Prime Infrastructure 3.3 to 3.5 Upgrade

I have been using Prime Infrastructure (PI) 3.3 for a while now. Overall, it works pretty well. Over time, I have found a handful of miner defects and have had to call Cisco technical support (TAC) for assistance. There have been a good number of calls to TAC that resulted in me being told that it’s a bug and it will be fixed in PI 3.5.

Last summer when I was at Cisco Live in Orlando, I…

Intermec CK71 scan guns constantly drop connection

I have multiple warehouses that I support use Honeywell’s Intermec CK71 scanners. The warehouse associates use these scanners to interface with the warehouse management system (WMS). The system tells the associate where to go and pick what item and place it at a specific dock door for shipping. Back and forth, all day these associates rely on the CK71 to tell them their next item to pick.

For a…

Cisco’s DNA Center appliance, Initial installation – IP Addressing

I recently received my Cisco Digital Network Architecture Center appliance, DNA Center (DN1-HW-APL). Excited to get the system up and running, I set out to get it installed. I found the Plan The Deployment document on Cisco.com and started reading.

I found the deployment guide to be a bit confusing when it came to the IP addresses that are needed. I figured out that the system needs four (4) or…

I recently deployed a new WS-C2960L-8PS-LL and found that it would only provide 15.4w of power to the AIR-AP2802E-B-K9 access points connected to it. I found this to be odd because I have the same model switch at my desk and I have had many 2800 access points connected to it at full power (26.1w).

After a few minutes, I noticed that the software on the switch was not the standard version that we…

Cisco 2802 radios is admin up, but down

I recently deployed Cisco 2802e (AIR-AP2802E-B-K9) access points in a warehouse. The facility was existing and had a couple PoE enabled Cisco 3750v2 switches. The 2802s powered up and registered to the new controller. After configuring the access points, the radios would not turn on.

I figured it had to be due to the 15.4w PoE on the 3750v2. I shut off the B/G radios in an attempt to free up…

How to save money when buying Cisco Systems network equipment?

This year at Cisco Live 2018 #CLUS, I ran into the Cisco Refresh booth in the World of Solutions. I was surprised to hear all about Cisco Refresh program. The Cisco Refresh is a way for Cisco to sell their refurbished equipment. The gentleman that I talked to stated that I can buy a refurbished device at a 40% lower list price than new devices and still get Smartnet for the product.

This is…

Prime Infrastructure 3.3 – Audit to see if Smart Install running?

Cisco’s Prime Infrastructure (PI) has the ability to audit configuration files. PI can look through the configs stored in the data base looking for key words. After key words are found, it can run a command to either add or remove configuration on the network device. PI can also log into a network device, issue a command and then take action based on the output of the command.

While investigating…

Prime Infrastructure 3.3 – View traffic to off site networks

My last post talked about how to setup Prime Infrastructure (PI) 3.3 to correctly display “Site” data. You have to create “Device Groups”, then associate IP addresses in “End Point Association” for those groups. Here is the link to the post that I am referring to.

Because Cisco setup PI to have you create these Device Groups and associate the IPs per group, you can setup groups for IP ranges that…

Prime Infrastructure 3.3 – End Point Association

Cisco Prime Infrastructure 3.3 is able to collect and display Netflow information about your network. There are multiple ways to view this data. In this article I am going to focus on the SITE view under Main Menu/Dashboard/Performance/Site. Once you go there, you will see multiple tabs, Site, Device, Access Point, Interface, Application, Voice/Video and End User Experience.

Under the Site tab,…

What mode do I set my Ixia Netoptics iBypass to?

I was introduced to Netoptics iBypass switches years ago, but it wasn’t until recently that I had the chance to administer one. As a new product to me, I read the user manual to make sure the IPS was connected correctly to the monitor ports. I worked with the sales engineer to make sure I understood how to use the product. At time of deployment, I set the Bypass Mode to “TAP”. I did this because…

Cisco ASA VPN and RSA SDI Troubleshooting

RSA SDI is a setup that allow a user to use a token to log in to a system. This is a two factor authentication method. The Cisco ASA VPN can be setup to have the user enter the token number, or the users Pin. If the user enters their Pin, the Anyconnect client then looks for the soft token on the computer and retrieves the token number. The ASA then sends the token number to the RSA server for…

Cisco ASA hostname trick to quickly identify if the unit is Active or Standby

Even after years of working with the Cisco ASA platform every time I have the opportunity to work with somebody else on a Cisco ASA, I always learn something new. I recently learned about the following command.

“prompt hostname state priority”

This command changes the hostname to include Primary or Secondary and Active or Standby. Instead of issuing the “show failover” command to figure out…

ASUS AC2400 (RT-AC87U) Review

I was recently tasked with providing an upgraded wireless solution at a customers apartment. I wasn’t given any good information about the apartment except for the fact that it was two floors in a 44 floor building. I was given 24 hours to get the solution in place. Without appropriate gear on hand, I had to make a quick purchase. With only having enterprise wireless experience I wasn’t sure what…

Have you ever visited a business and you were given a username and password for their guest wireless access, only to get an SSL Certificate error when it sends you to the authentication page? Is it safe or not?

On the Cisco wireless controller there is a layer 3 security feature called Web-Auth. When the authentication is set to Web-Auth the user attaches to an SSID, then when they open their…

If you are looking for a slick solution to mount your Cisco wireless access point (AP) on your drop ceiling you should look at the AIR-AP-BRACKET-3 bracket. This bracket is easy to use and the AP looks great in the ceiling.

There are 5 steps to this installation. 1. Remove and cut the ceiling tile. Use the outside of the AP to size your hole.

Ceiling tile after the hole has been cut for the AP.

2…

How many clients can a Cisco 3702 AP service before service degrades?

I understand that the proper answer to this question is “It depends”. But, my goal is to find the number of simultaneous wireless telephone calls that can be made while attached to the same Cisco 3702 series access point (AP)? I’m not looking for a book answer, I have already found the Cisco Unified Wireless IP Phone 7925G Deployment Guide. On Page 42 is states 13 calls at 6 Mbps, 20 calls at 12…

Is it worth upgrading that old network device?

I used to have the opinion of performing software upgrades on old equipment to bring the software version up to a modern version. I have had issues in the past and the vendor refuses to help me until I perform a software upgrade. So, to avoid lack of support, I always wanted to have my equipment on newer version.

Recently, I have had a change of heart on this. I recently performed some software…