Anyone using Cisco Business Wireless gear?

[PinkyMacGodess]

Trying to get the system to update. Added two Mesh Extenders, and am now trying to get them to update. It's not been easy. First weird thing was I put 143acm extenders in, replacing some 240AC's that shouldn't have been installed, so used the POE injectors for power and backhaul. The 143's don't do wired at all, like they never connected.

Then, trying to get them to update. Apparently there is a certificate error somewhere because the logs mention that a lot, and I preloaded the Mesh updates, and... Nothing is updating... I can't update the AP until the Extenders update. And calling Cisco is a litany of Asian women who sound like they are talking down a 50 foot PVC pipe, and keep telling me I need a support contract, which is not true.

So, what I thought would be a great wireless system turns out to be, so far, a stinking pile of overpriced 'Cisco Designed (now, apparently instead of 'Cisco Business')' crap. *sigh*

I go to Management> Software Update and click Cisco.com and Check For Updates (I know there is one) and I get the error message "Connection failure: 60, Peer certificate cannot be authenticated with given CA certificates".

I'm stumped...

 

[DJLC]

Can you SSH or otherwise get Console access into those units and check the time on them? That may be one cause of SSL errors like that.

Generally, I find Cisco gear to be overpriced and needlessly complex. And Meraki is overpriced and needlessly simplified. Lots of better options out there. But I recognize this isn't helpful advice when you've already got the stuff sitting in front of you.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Can you SSH or otherwise get Console access into those units and check the time on them? That may be one cause of SSL errors like that.

Generally, I find Cisco gear to be overpriced and needlessly complex. And Meraki is overpriced and needlessly simplified. Lots of better options out there. But I recognize this isn't helpful advice when you've already got the stuff sitting in front of you.

I did find it interesting that they now call the whole system 'Designed by Cisco', yet the change happened after the boxes were printed.

The whole system is far too 'automagic', and that tends to be a bad thing. (Like updating AirPods)

The extenders seem to have connected, everything seems to be updated, and I haven't poked that nest yet today, had other things to do. Surprised that it's all working this morning. Last night I thought that it was all going to go sideways, and I'd have to wipe everything and start over. What fun. Exactly, what fun?

I got the system because it was inexpensive-ish, and came in a 'kit' in Amazone. Turns out the 'kit' was not workable. It had three CBW240 AP's stating that one would be the 'primary', and the other two would be 'extenders', but the truth is the CBW240 will not work as an extender, period. So I had geate wifi in the center of my house, but not so much at the opposite ends. I chose the CBW143 because it had POE in ports. I thought 'Awesome, I can then use the gigabit network for backhaul!' but as I mentioned, no, they do NOT even communicate on the wired network. I doubted that the POE was working properly too. I switched to the included USB style power blocks and then they were seen on the AP.

But the whole thing is so awkward. Removing AP's is not exactly easy, and doing updates is sketchy. You can see the updates 'happening', but get zero feedback on IF it actually happened. That and misspellings in dialog boxes and rather sketchy documentation on the 143, and getting support from Cisco is limited, apparently, to a 'Cisco Community' blog system. Post a message, and you *might* get a response that has anything to do with your issue. I was disappointed, but the whole line is obviously made as an attempt to cover the small business market who would probably buy any garbage the Geeks at Worst Try would recommend. But wifi in this day and age is not hard. Is it a bad system? I've seen worse, for sure (velop)... YIKES!!!

I expanded on this in case someone else ends up with this system and runs into issues like mine. I'll see if I can check the time. It took far too long to find out what version of their firmware the various parts had. But given the market, it's similar to other systems, unfortunately.

Overpriced? I had some of their enterprise gear, and that was WOW pricey. And they discontinued it, and to get ANY support (except Google, obviously) you needed to pay for a 'service contract'. No contract, no help. There are different levels of contracts too. Choose wisely...