When setting up my AP6W, I’m able to statically assign a management IP address while it’s connected to an access port assigned to VLAN 100. However, after changing the management VLAN from 1 to 100 and connecting the device to its trunk port, I lose connectivity to the access point, and its MAC address is no longer present on the switch interface.
I have two AP6-PRO access points configured to use management VLAN 100 and used the same setup method outlined above without any issues. They use the same switchport configuration, with the only difference being the interface description.
Does anyone have any ideas what might be causing this?
I am using this exact config with my AP6 Pros and AP6 outdoor without any problems. Just to confirm, did you turn off the “fallback upon failure” option for that AP?
I did. I configured the entire access point and switched over to VLAN 100 as the final configuration change. The only option I have enabled in that area is “always on”. Same setup method was used on my other Alta access points with no issues.
Everything looks proper in those screenshots. Maybe there’s something specific about the AP6W. What is that VLAN setup option for? Unfortunately I don’t have an AP6W to test with, hopefully someone else can chime in.
I wonder if this bug that I reported last year which was fixed in 2.2n has regressed. I’ll test it again this morning with “Fallback upon failure” left enabled. I’m not sure I understand your question regarding VLAN setup option.
I performed another factory reset a few minutes ago, and this time, after holding the reset button for 10 seconds, the LED transitioned from blinking white to solid blue. I then noticed the controller showed Set Up under the existing AP6W object. Instead of selecting Set Up, I clicked the recycle bin icon and deleted the existing object. A few seconds later, it reappeared, and I re-adopted the access point using the method I outlined above. I haven’t had any issues since.
I’m curious why the factory reset worked this time after I deleted the access point from the controller following the reset. I followed these exact same steps last night, but it didn’t work then.
Sharing this so no one thinks this is being ignored. Alta Support is assisting me via email and has gone far above and beyond normal troubleshooting in an attempt to identify my issue.
A lot of troubleshooting went into resolving this issue behind the scenes.
First, I’d like to thank @Alta-Anthony for the extensive troubleshooting assistance he provided. While Alta was unable to reproduce the issue using one of their own switches, they also went out of their way to procure the same model network switch I’m using, a Cisco 48-port PoE switch, for testing. I’m accustomed to seeing companies test with their competitors’ networking equipment, but only at the large enterprise level.
I provided Alta with a copy of my switch configuration, with all sensitive information removed, but they were still unable to reproduce the problem.
Ultimately, the troubleshooting came down to analyzing packet captures using a SPAN port on the Cisco switch. When changing the management VLAN from the default VLAN to VLAN 100, the packet capture showed that the AP6W was not correctly tagging its management traffic.
In the end, this appears to be a hardware or firmware defect. During the night, the AP6W would randomly begin responding in the controller, only to stop responding again shortly afterward.
Numerous Power-On Recovery (POR) attempts, along with multiple factory resets, were performed. However, the issue consistently reappeared after changing the management VLAN from the default. I’m currently working on obtaining a replacement through the RMA process.
