My experience with Cisco 1041n Wireless Access Point and old Cisco PIX 501 Firewall

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gladewarner
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Joined: Sun Feb 27, 2011 10:32 pm

My experience with Cisco 1041n Wireless Access Point and old Cisco PIX 501 Firewall

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Post by gladewarner »

The Cisco 1041n Wireless access point is a nice looking unit, and performs very well.

In order to activate the unit when you are using it with a firewall older than the new Cisco 881, you must contact GSD. Here are my notes:

1. You should test placement before permanently mounting the unit. This means you need to get it on the network and working before you can do anything else.
2. You will be supplied a "power injector" power supply. This power supply puts about 50v DC onto the CAT5 Ethernet cable, from which the 1041n gets its power. This is really nice if you need to mount the 1041n away from a power outlet.
3. The unit takes a few seconds to power up. It will first show blinking green, then will switch to solid green. Wait a few minutes, and the device will begin flashing green, then red, then green/red, then will repeat. This flashing patter means that the firewall has not been configured to permit the 1041n to work.
4. At this point you need to call the GSD. Do so from a clerk's office where you are logged in to the Clerk's computer which is connected to the network switch or firewall.
5. GSD will ask you for your computer's IP address, and will ask you to start the LanDesk remote maintenance program. GSD will take over the computer and configure your firewall for use with the 1041n Wireless Access Point. You can then shut down the clerk's computer.
6. If you look at the Cisco 1041n at this point, the LED will be solid blue. This indicates that the 1041n is downloading new configuration from headquarters.
7. Come back in two hours. The 1041n LED should be solid green. Test it, and it should now work.

Note that this device is brand new to GSD, so be patient and helpful with them. They asked me to cycle power on the 1041n, but that wasn't needed and didn't help get the device connected.

If you are using the 1041n with the new 881 Firewall, the process is much easier. Just plug it in, wait for two hours, and it is ready to go.

I'm not sure, but it seems to me that the 1041n works better in a horizontal (ceiling mount) orientation than it does in a vertical (wall mount) orientation.
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