Tech Forum

I have a building that my have an old pix 501 firewall that has "died." I have a couple of questions.

1. What is the lead time on getting an 881W? Basically how long after ordering it will it be on the east coast?
2. Will a Cisco Aeronet still work with the 881W and will it work with any other router out there to supply a WAP and an IP Address.

Thanks for the help.
Terry

Terry,

I'm sure the official response is they can't quote you a leadtime. That's what I was told anyway, but we recently got one in about a week. Hopefully yours will be as quick.

As for the old Aironet AP, it should still work. Any off the shelf network device will work behind it, but I strongly encourage you to use the Cisco APs and not try to use Linksys/etc wireless routers. They will only confuse things and slow your network down. The only way you would run into a problem with the old Aironet is if it is lightweight and not standalone and it therefore needs a controller, but I don't think the PIX was functioning as a controller. If it was, GSD should be able to make the Aironet work with the new 881 if needed.

Scott.

harddrive wrote:Will a Cisco Aeronet still work with the 881W and will it work with any other router out there to supply a WAP and an IP Address.

I have the same question as Terry. My stake center currently uses a Cisco ASA 5505 firewall and two Cisco Aeronet 1200 WAPs. One of the WAPs is colocated with the ASA, and is connected to the POE port for power. The other WAP is in one of the clerks' offices at the other end of the building. It is connected to a hub there, because the clerk's computer is also connected to that hub.

Since the 881W only has four ports, I will have to use a network switch with the 881W to provide as many wired connections as the ASA now provides. Since the 881W has built-in wireless, I can remove the Aeronet WAP at that location, but I will still need the Aeronet in the clerk's office to provide coverage at that end of the building.

Will the Aeronet 1200 WAP work with the 881W? Will it require a call to the Global Service Center?

drepouille wrote:Will the Aeronet 1200 WAP work with the 881W? Will it require a call to the Global Service Center?

We have two buildings where we successfully use older Aironet 1200 WAPs with newer 881W firewalls. They work just fine (in fact, those buildings don't have the problems reported in 881W issues, so they actually work better than the 1041n WAPs right now).

We were already using power injectors because the previous firewalls were PIX 501s in both cases, and the 501 doesn't have PoE ports as the ASA 5505 does. So if you move to the 881W you'll need to get a power injector for each WAP. But that's easily done -- just make sure that you make the FM group aware of that need so that they can order the power injectors when they order the 881W.

I did have to contact the GSC to have them configure the Aironet 1200 WAPs when I installed the 881W firewalls -- the automatic firewall configuration didn't seem to work for those older WAPs.

aebrown wrote:So if you move to the 881W you'll need to get a power injector for each WAP.

The 1401 WAPs get their power from the 881W through PoE. I wonder if the 1200 WAPs can also get PoE if they are directly connected to the 881W, rather than through a switch or hub.

drepouille wrote:

aebrown wrote:So if you move to the 881W you'll need to get a power injector for each WAP.

The 1401 WAPs get their power from the 881W through PoE. I wonder if the 1200 WAPs can also get PoE if they are directly connected to the 881W, rather than through a switch or hub.

I was basing my response on the topic Cisco 881W and POE port, which says that the 881W devices that the Church orders do not support PoE. Perhaps that has changed.

In my buildings, we already had the power injectors, so I just plugged the existing injectors into the 881W firewall that replaced the PIX 501. I didn't even bother to check if our 881Ws supported PoE. Clearly if the 881W has PoE ports, they would work with an Aironet 1200 just as well as with a 1041n, if the WAP is plugged directly into one of those ports.

Although the interface on the 881w firewalls indicates PoE on ports 0 and 1, and even has a port for a power adapter labeled PoE, I am fairly certain the PoE does not work. From what we understand from asking the engineers, the church has opted for a model that doesn't actually support the PoE to save money, and is using power injectors instead. (Probably because not all sites actually use external APs, some smaller branches just use the built in wireless.)

We even tested using an adapter that matches the PoE power port on the 881w, and with a 1041 and a 1200. No success. I'm pretty sure the information passed down is indeed true.

parktw wrote:Although the interface on the 881w firewalls indicates PoE on ports 0 and 1, and even has a port for a power adapter labeled PoE, I am fairly certain the PoE does not work.

Correct

Our local FM group was able to do a rush order on a Cicso 881 W firewall and we were backup in last than a week

We have several meetinghouses that have Cisco Aeronet 1200 and Linksys access points connected directly and thought switches to 881 firewalls with no issues

Just a reminder: We have been told thou shall not have 1041 and other access points connected at the same time to a 881 firewall

The POE interfacses on the 881W require an additional module to be purchased. The module, however, is pricier than purchasing 2 injectors.