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Troubleshooting local connection issues using default SSID on MR Access Points

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Both ap.meraki.com and my.meraki.com are locally-hosted sites useful for configuring an access point (AP) when it cannot reach the Meraki Cloud. This is often seen on a static, non-DHCP network or when there are strict firewall rules. After a Cisco Meraki AP has lost its connection to the Internet but is still receiving power, it will broadcast a default Service Set Identifier (SSID) that can be connected to for administrative tasks.

Connect to the default SSID by completing the following steps:

  1. Physically inspect the AP
    1. Check that the AP has power (see the LED codes section of MR installation Guides)
    2. Copy the MAC address (see the Locating the MAC Address of Cisco Meraki Devices article).
  2. Check for available wireless networks 
    1. Check if a known default SSID is being broadcast
  3. If a default SSID is being broadcast, connect your device to it
  4. If no known default SSIDs are present, set up a manual wireless network connection
    1. For the SSID name, use 'meraki-<MAC_Address>', for example 'meraki-xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx'. Replace the x's with the AP's MAC address in lower case

If a Meraki Access Point does not have a configuration from the Meraki Cloud Controller it will instead broadcast a default SSID of "Meraki-Scanning." The AP takes an address of 10.128.128.128, the SSID runs DHCP, and it will try to assign any clients that associate with it an address. This is merely to provide a connection between a client and the AP to allow for local configuration.

  1. After connecting, open a web browser and connect to one of the local status page addresses

  2. A list of the administrative tasks which are available to use can be found on the Using the Cisco Meraki Device Local Status Page article.

Default SSIDs

Potential known default SSID names along with potential causes/solutions:

<SSID_name>-bad-gateway

Cause: An AP's configured default gateway has failed to respond to 15 consecutive ARP requests.

Solution: Check the AP's IP address configuration and reachability to its default gateway.

<SSID_name>-connecting

Cause: An AP's SSID that is configured to use a VPN concentrator is unable to connect.

Solution: Verify connectivity to the concentrator using the tools in dashboard. Also, confirm that your local firewall is not blocking the connection.

<SSID_name>-scanning

Cause: Similar to 'bad-gateway', an AP is unable to connect to its default gateway.

Solution: Check the AP's IP address configuration and reachability to its default gateway.

Meraki Setup

Cause: An AP has never connected to the Meraki Cloud Controller (MCC) or has been factory reset.

Solution: Establish MCC connectivity for the AP by ensuring appropriate Internet access.

Note: MR46 (and other Wi-Fi 6 and newer APs) might not broadcast any of the default SSIDs out-of-the-box when running a factory firmware if an AP cannot acquire an IP address (e.g., networks without a DHCP server available).

In this scenario, the local status page cannot be used for an initial IP configuration, and the AP must be connected to the network with the DHCP server so the AP can connect to the dashboard.