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Cisco Meraki Documentation

Using the MR Live Tools

Live tools on the Monitor > Access Points page can provide important information and assist with troubleshooting . To use Live Tools, select the access point of interest from the Monitor > Access points page. This article is an overview of the available services associated with this feature.

 

  • Current clients

  • Ping

  • ARP table

  • Traceroute

  • Throughput

  • Blink LEDs

  • Reboot APs

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Summary Tab

Current clients

The Current clients tool loads automatically by default and shows the number of clients connected, data usage for the AP in total and per user, as well as how well and how long the user has been associated. You may also ping each currently connected client.

Screenshot shows the number of clients connected, data usage for the AP and user, how long the user has been associated and the Signal strength. You can also ping each connected client.

Tools Tab

The following tools can be accessed by navigating to the Tools tab of the MR's status page.

Screenshot shows MR Tools Tab under which you can perform various functions such as ping, reboot device, blink LEDs, trace-route etc.

 

Ping

Run a Ping test to any client that is connected wirelessly to the AP or to any client that should be reachable over the wired network. You can also run a ping test from Meraki dashboard to the AP by clicking Ping AP.

Screenshot shows Ping tool for MR

 

Reboot Device

If the AP is checking into the cloud and you would like to perform a reboot without unplugging the device you can click on Reboot AP to reboot the device.

Screenshot shows on how to reboot the MR device from Tools section

 

Blink LEDs

This tool helps find the AP. Also, if you are running in Dark Mode where the LEDs are not on, this tool will blink the LEDs so that you can see if the device is functioning or not. This tool flashes all the LEDs on the device in unison

Screenshot shows on how to Blink LEDs on MR device from Tools section

Note: For some MR models (e.g., MR45/MR46), the LED may take up to 60 seconds to stop blinking when this operation is suspended.

Dashboard throughput

This tool allows a throughput test to be performed between the AP and Meraki dashboard.  For more information, review the article on the Throughput live tool

Note: This is not meant as a tool to test the overall throughput available from an AP to the Internet.

Screenshot shows how to run dashboard throughput test on MR from Tools Tab

 

 

Traceroute

Run a traceroute from the AP to any host upstream.  This lets you know the route information from the AP to the specific host.  Learn more about using traceroute here .

Screenshot shows how to run traceroute on MR from Tools Tab

ARP table

The ARP table live tool can be used to view the AP's ARP table. This will display a list of IP addresses and the MAC addresses they are mapped to.

Screenshot shows ARP table. ARP table gives a list of clients connected with their IP and MAC addresses

These tools will only work with APs that are online and communicating with the Dashboard. If you are trying to use one of these tools and they are taking a long time to load, this can be due to a few reasons:

 

  1. If the AP is currently working at capacity due to large number of clients or data passing through the device, these tools will take time to load because the AP’s resources are taxed

  2. If the AP is having problems connecting to the cloud controller, these tools will either not load or load slowly. Learn more about troubleshooting this here .

  3. If there is a problem on your local lan that is impeding traffic or your connection is slow, this can cause long load times as well.

 

Learn how to troubleshoot interference issues in the following articles:

Meraki for Events and high density deployments

Tools for Troubleshooting Poor Wireless Performance

Common Source of Wireless Interference

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