Wired Wan Mode (WWM) / Safe Mode

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Wired Wan Mode (WWM) / Safe Mode

This article provides instructions on how to enable Wired Wan Mode a.k.a Safe Mode on MG’s.

Note: Safe mode is renamed as Wired Wan Mode on firmware MG 3.0 onwards.

What is Wired WAN Mode

The Wired WAN Mode/ safe mode configuration is primarily intended for getting the MG devices online via a wired connection when it falls offline from an active cellular connection for troubleshooting by Meraki support. Safemode/WWM allows for additional troubleshooting if a valid working cellular is unavailable. MG cellular gateways can be configured to have port 1 as a WAN uplink. When in WWM/safe mode mode, port 1 is converted into a WAN port to allow connection into a switch, router, or an ISP. Similar to an MR access point, when plugged into a switch device it will attempt to obtain a valid IP and reach out to the dashboard. When there is a valid wired network connection on port 1, the wired interface will take priority over the cellular interface even if the cellular interface is functioning properly.

How to spot the MG is in the WWM/Safe mode?

Once the WWM/Safe mode is enabled, the LED on the MG will begin to rainbow. Once the MG detects the wired connection on port 1 the LED will turn white. This provides a confirmation that the device is using the wired connection on port 1 as the primary uplink.

The right graphic highlights the port 1 configuration in the role as a WAN1 interface when enabling Wired Wan Mode.

Enabling Wired WAN Mode

This allows you to reconfigure port 1 into a WAN port for troubleshooting

On Firmwares prior to MG3.0 Wired WAN Mode was called Safe Mode as seen in the below screenshot.

To enable Safe Mode, go to the Safe Mode portion in the Configure Tab and check the box to enable Safe Mode and save.

Note: When using Wired Wan mode, it is recommended to have access to a valid working internet-accessible network to allow the cellular gateway to check in and pull configurations and firmware. Additionally, the MG cellular gateway is not intended to be used in this mode for production. This mode is reserved as a troubleshooting tool for Support to assist with cellular interface issues and to allow the cellular gateways to pull firmware upgrades without using cellular data.

The dashboard will display an alert when the MG cellular gateway is configured in safe mode.

When WWM mode is enabled, the Cellular Gateways > Uplink Tab will show the details of the Wired Wan as shown in the below screenshot.

Accessing Local Status Page

The local status page of any Meraki device is accessible via the web browser of a host machine. By default, users are required to log in to pages that provide configurable options. The local status page uses digest authentication with Message Digest Algorithm 5 (MD5) hashing for the connection between the administering computer and the Meraki device to protect these sensitive settings.

The username for MG’s that have default authentication credentials or have not fetched configuration will be the serial number (upper case letters and dashes) with no password. Authentication credentials should be changed to have a strong password after their initial use. MG’s can be accessed by DNS name if the client traffic passes through the device while browsing the URL - http://mg.meraki.com

Troubleshooting Local Status Page

Cannot connect to the local status page URL when wired

If a client is unable to resolve the local status page, be sure to check the following:

Client is connected to the network and is within the same subnet as the Meraki device.
DNS is set to the Meraki device IP or to a DNS server that will route through the Meraki device
Try all relevant local status page URLs (see top of this article)
Try incognito/private browsing to eliminate potential caching issues

If the local status page URLs are still unreachable for some reason, the local status page can also be reached by going to the LAN IP of the device through a web browser. For more information about connecting to the local status page using a static IP, see the Accessing the Local Status Page section above.