Cloud Monitoring for Catalyst Wireless FAQ

What Is Cloud Monitoring for Catalyst Wireless?

Cloud monitoring for Catalyst provides a view of Catalyst 9800 wireless controllers and access points, seamlessly integrated into the Meraki dashboard experience.

Cloud monitoring provides the ability to view Catalyst wireless controller and access point health, performance and and troubleshooting capabilities. Wireless controllers and their associated access points will be automatically tagged with “Monitor Only” in the dashboard to distinguish from fully managed Meraki access points. Aside from this difference, “Monitor Only” Catalyst access points appear and function very similarly to Meraki MR access points in the dashboard, including a visual representation of connected ports and traffic information.

 

Licensing

Which Licenses Are Required to Monitor My Wireless Controller With Dashboard?

Dashboard monitoring is included with DNA Essentials or DNA Advantage licenses. You do not need additional Meraki dashboard licenses. 

Are There Any Differences Between DNA Essentials and Advantage Licenses?

The DNA Essentials license includes monitoring capabilities for wireless controllers and access points. With the DNA Advantage license, all monitoring capabilities for wireless controllers and access points + Client Traffic Analytics provided by IOS XE NBAR and NetFlow are included.

 

Supported Models, Versions, and Features

Which Catalyst 9800 Wireless Controllers Are Supported in Dashboard?

Cloud Monitoring for Catalyst Wireless supports the following wireless controller models:

• C9800-L-C

• C9800-L-F

• C9800-40

• C9800-80

Which Catalyst Access Points Are Supported in Dashboard?

Cloud Monitoring for Catalyst Wireless supports the following access point models when joined to a supported C9800 wireless controller:

Wi-Fi 6E:

• Cisco Catalyst 9136 Series

• Cisco Catalyst 9166 Series (including 9166D1)

• Cisco Catalyst 9164 Series

• Cisco Catalyst 9163 Series

• Cisco Catalyst 9162 Series

Wi-Fi 6:

• Cisco Catalyst 9130 Series

• Cisco Catalyst 9124 Series

• Cisco Catalyst 9120 Series

• Cisco Catalyst 9117 Series

• Cisco Catalyst 9115 Series

• Cisco Catalyst 9105 Series

11ac Wave 2:

• 4800 Series access points

• 3800 Series access points

• 2800 Series access points

• 1560 Series access points

What If I Have an Unsupported Access Point on My Wireless Controller?

Access points not supported on dashboard can remain joined to your catalyst C9800 WLC with no impact. You cannot claim or add unsupported access points to your dashboard.

Why Is My Wireless Controller Access Point Count Different Than My Dashboard Access Point Count?

The wireless controller summary page has live data to show the current access points and clients active on the wireless controller. For access points, this will provide a live metric of access points joined to the wireless controller regardless if they are supported and onboarded to your dashboard.

Which IOS XE Versions Are Supported?

Cloud Monitoring for Catalyst Wireless is supported on the following IOS XE releases:

• 17.12.3

• 17.15.1 and Later

See Cloud Monitoring for Catalyst Wireless Requirements for more details.

Can I connect Wireless Controllers to Meraki Dashboard and Catalyst Center?

No, we do not currently support connecting a Catalyst 9800 wireless controller to both the dashboard and Catalyst Center.

 

Dashboard Options

How Should I Design My Dashboard Organization to Monitor My Catalyst Wireless Controller and Access Points?

The Cloud Monitoring for Catalyst wireless design guide provides a detailed design guide for how to layout and design your dashboard Organization to support Catalyst wireless controllers and access points, including our best-practice recommendations.

How Do I Enable Cloud Monitoring on My Wireless Controller?

To enable cloud monitoring, first connect the Catalyst 9800 wireless controller to dashboard. Once the Meraki tunnel has connected to dashboard, claim the wireless controller and add it to a network.

Will Dashboard Provision Any Configurations to My Wireless Controller When I Onboard It to Dashboard?

In order to support monitoring the wireless controller and its access points, dashboard must provision some configurations to enable monitoring after you have added it to dashboard. Refer to our Cloud Monitoring Catalyst 9800 Dashboard Provisioned Configurations knowledge base article to see the configurations that dashboard will provision to the wireless controller.

Can I Also Monitor My Catalyst Switches With Dashboard?

Yes, you can also monitor supported Catalyst 9000 series switches in dashboard. For more information, see Cloud monitoring overview and FAQ for switches.