WLAN O&M and Troubleshooting
Domain 7 is operational: planning, monitoring, upgrading and diagnosing WLAN faults in a repeatable order.
Tools
WLAN Planner supports site survey, AP placement, channel/power planning and heat maps. eSight (or the current management platform) monitors APs, clients, alarms and performance. Use planning data to set expectations, then verify with real surveys.
Upgrade workflow
Back up configuration, check the target AC/AP compatibility matrix, upload the image, set the AP upgrade policy, and verify after reboot. APs can auto-upgrade from the AC; a failed upgrade often leaves an AP in a boot loop or with an image mismatch.
Fault diagnosis
Work bottom-up: PoE/power and link, switch port VLAN and trunk, DHCP address and gateway, AC reachability and CAPWAP ports, AP license and whitelist, then authentication and RF. Compare a working AP on the same switch.
Worked example: an AP shows offline. The switch port is up, but the AP has no IP because the management VLAN is not allowed on the trunk. Fix the trunk, renew DHCP, confirm UDP 5246/5247 to the AC, then check the AP license. If the AP joins but clients fail, move to AAA and RF checks.
Traps: replacing APs before checking DHCP; ignoring NTP/certificate expiry; using mismatched firmware; treating a coverage complaint as an AC fault without checking interference.