Meraki AP's rely on DNS to resolve the Internet hostnames of the Meraki Cloud Controller. A Meraki gateway AP obtains its DNS server configuration statically or dynamically (DHCP option 6). A reliable DNS server is required for a Meraki network to operate properly. If a gateway AP is configured with an unreachable, unresponsive or incorrect DNS server your network and Dashboard will experience the behavior below.
- The AP icon on the Monitor > Access points and AP detail page are yellow.
- The alert "This gateway is disabled. Its Domain Name Service (DNS) configuration is not working." is reported on the AP detail page.
- The bars on connectivity graph for the AP will be orange.
- When you place your pointer over the orange bars of the connectivity graph located on the AP detail page, the message will state "Disabled gateway (bad DNS)".
- The radio/power LED on the AP will be solid orange and the signal LED's will be flashing green.
- You will see wireless networks appended with "-bad-gateway".
- Users cannot connect to the Meraki network.
To remedy this issue, please do the following
- Configure your AP's with valid reachable DNS servers, e.x. Google Public DNS.
- If there is a firewall between your AP's and the configured DNS server make sure UDP port 53 is open.
- You can connect to the SSID appended with "-bad-gateway" to reconfigure your static IP address settings which includes your DNS servers.
See also the knowledge base articles:
Understanding Common Dashboard Alerts for MR Access Points
