The Cisco Business Wireless (CBW) Access Points (APs) may continue to display red flashing LED after finishing the day zero setup and rebooting. This document has been developed to highlight this issue and to define the solution that needs to be followed in order to successfully complete the day zero setup of CBW APs.
The day zero configuration of a CBW AP guides you through setting up your new, out of the box AP. After completing the initial setup, the AP will reboot, during which the LED in the access point will go through multiple color patterns. When the LED is blinking green, it indicates that the user can proceed to the next step. In some cases, after finishing initial setup and rebooting, the access point may not get past the flashing red LED pattern. This is due to lack of a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server. This document defines the solution to this issue in order to successfully complete the initial setup of a CBW AP and to access the AP through the web interface.
For successful completion of the initial set up of your CBW AP, ensure that the AP is connected to a switch or a router with a DHCP server during the day zero configuration.
Even if the user sets a static IP address for management during initial setup, a DHCP server is still required for assigning a second IP address that can handle AP functionality. Once the AP has both required IP addresses, it will work as expected and the initial setup can be completed successfully.
Planning to add a new AP or mesh extender to your network? Make sure that a DHCP server is present for the initial installation process even if you plan to change it to a static address later.