Just got a Ubiquiti Uni-Fi AP and can't get the #@$&? thing on my network.
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I'm really looking for help with something that seems like it should be almost plug and play. So far, I am much less than impressed with the user experience here. While all the bells and whistles look great, that's not much use when it won't connect to my simple network. What am I missing here? Someone please help, before it becomes a rather expensive Frisbee and ends up stuck in the grill of a passing truck!
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I have used one once, but from what I remember there is a program you need to put on your laptop, then use it to configure the device.
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The controller software and the AP need to be on the same switch.
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Yeah, I downloaded the controller, and it can see the AP, but it was listed as pending. When I went to the "adopt to network" page for the AP, it asks for a username and password. I put in the Unifi username and password. No go. I tried the SSID and password. Nope. I even tried the router username and password. Uh uh. Nothing. Now it's listed as inactive, and the whole time, the LED on the device is a solid green (which the documentation says means that it is working fine and on the network.
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@art_of_shred said:
Yeah, I downloaded the controller, and it can see the AP, but it was listed as pending. When I went to the "adopt to network" page for the AP, it asks for a username and password. I put in the Unifi username and password. No go. I tried the SSID and password. Nope. I even tried the router username and password. Uh uh. Nothing. Now it's listed as inactive, and the whole time, the LED on the device is a solid green (which the documentation says means that it is working fine and on the network.
Did you reset it to factory defaults? If that still doesn't work you may have a dud unit.
We had this issue with one of the ones we had purchased (as part of a 3-pack) and it turned out to be a hardware failure. Ubiquiti was quick to replace it.
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Like @coliver mentioned, might do an actual reset. I reset and set up mine again over the weekend. Setup two wireless, one for us and one of the kids. The kids is limited to 1MB and it's working nicely.
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Good to know, Chad. Thanks. I'll try the reset and then see how that goes. It was about the only thing I could think of as a next step.
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Yeah you can't just use a new controller with one that had been setup. It need to be factory reset the tied to the new controller.
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@thecreativeone91 said:
Yeah you can't just use a new controller with one that had been setup. It need to be factory reset the tied to the new controller.
This is about the most frustrating thing of these APs. I guess it's a security thing, but really seems more like a poor implementation.
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@Dashrender said:
@thecreativeone91 said:
Yeah you can't just use a new controller with one that had been setup. It need to be factory reset the tied to the new controller.
This is about the most frustrating thing of these APs. I guess it's a security thing, but really seems more like a poor implementation.
You could always manage them from the CLI on the device haha. Most controller based APs I've used require this, for security. Granted Ubquiti is much less of a controller and more of central configuration.
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@thecreativeone91 said:
@Dashrender said:
@thecreativeone91 said:
Yeah you can't just use a new controller with one that had been setup. It need to be factory reset the tied to the new controller.
This is about the most frustrating thing of these APs. I guess it's a security thing, but really seems more like a poor implementation.
You could always manage them from the CLI on the device haha. Most controller based APs I've used require this, for security. Granted Ubquiti is much less of a controller and more of central configuration.
I guess you're right, I'm kinda barking up the wrong tree.
Like the OP I had to deal with this when moving an AP from one location to a new one recently. Took me the better part of 3 hours to figure it out.. wasn't simple to say the least!
Though in the end, hard resetting the AP, then ensuring the AP and controller software were on the same subnet for configuration did solve my problem.
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@Dashrender said:
@thecreativeone91 said:
@Dashrender said:
@thecreativeone91 said:
Yeah you can't just use a new controller with one that had been setup. It need to be factory reset the tied to the new controller.
This is about the most frustrating thing of these APs. I guess it's a security thing, but really seems more like a poor implementation.
You could always manage them from the CLI on the device haha. Most controller based APs I've used require this, for security. Granted Ubquiti is much less of a controller and more of central configuration.
I guess you're right, I'm kinda barking up the wrong tree.
Like the OP I had to deal with this when moving an AP from one location to a new one recently. Took me the better part of 3 hours to figure it out.. wasn't simple to say the least!
Though in the end, hard resetting the AP, then ensuring the AP and controller software were on the same subnet for configuration did solve my problem.
You can also tell it to re-initialize it's controller relationship via the cli... but it is much easier to just do a hard reset.
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using a laptop or desktop to install the controller is mistake number one.
Take the time to find a permanent location to run the controller.
Once this is done, simply add a DNS entry to the local DNS server that directs the DNS name "unifi" to the IPof the controller.
Plug in the brand new UAP or default the existing one.
It will then use that DNS name to send the handshake to the controller and be ready to be adopted and set up.
Doing this with any controller that is not permanent will mean you will be resetting the unit the next time you want to make a change because your controller will not likely be the same.
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I haven't looked - do I assume correctly that there's a way to migrate the controller? Say server migration?
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I hope so, as I installed the controller on my desktop without really thinking about it. I'm worried now!
Surely nothing is ever "permanent" and there must be a way of backing up and/or migrating?
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OK looks like it's pretty easy.
If you're staying local, you just backup the controller, turn it off, install on the new location, restore and you're done.
But if you are moving to a different subnet with the controller, you'll have to follow the layer-3 setup.
https://community.ubnt.com/t5/UniFi-Controller-Installation/UniFi-Layer-3-methods-for-UAP-adoption-and-management/ta-p/455643 -
@JaredBusch said:
using a laptop or desktop to install the controller is mistake number one.
Take the time to find a permanent location to run the controller.
Once this is done, simply add a DNS entry to the local DNS server that directs the DNS name "unifi" to the IPof the controller.
Plug in the brand new UAP or default the existing one.
It will then use that DNS name to send the handshake to the controller and be ready to be adopted and set up.
Doing this with any controller that is not permanent will mean you will be resetting the unit the next time you want to make a change because your controller will not likely be the same.
Yeah, cause that's so much simpler than hitting the reset button.
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Thanks for the help, especially Chad. I doesn't seem very intuitive that you can take a brand new device out of the box, install it, connect it to the (very basic) network, download the controller, see that the controller sees it on the network, see the solid LED display on the device that says it's working properly on the network, and then be required to reset it to factory settings to get it to automatically work perfectly. What about the settings was not "factory" when I took it out of the box 5 minutes ago???
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@art_of_shred said:
Thanks for the help, especially Chad. I doesn't seem very intuitive that you can take a brand new device out of the box, install it, connect it to the (very basic) network, download the controller, see that the controller sees it on the network, see the solid LED display on the device that says it's working properly on the network, and then be required to reset it to factory settings to get it to automatically work perfectly. What about the settings was not "factory" when I took it out of the box 5 minutes ago???
LOL you're kidding right? I know many people around here dislike SonicWall, but I'll tell you my story anyhow. Several years ago, picked up a few Brand new SWs, attached them to my network. The default status of their firmware caused my AIX server to freakout and drop all connections. Only after reflashing the device with the exact same firmware was the problem resolved.
While it's nice to think that from the factory is in a pristine condition, that's not always the case, and a reset immediately is sometimes required.
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@art_of_shred said:
Thanks for the help, especially Chad. I doesn't seem very intuitive that you can take a brand new device out of the box, install it, connect it to the (very basic) network, download the controller, see that the controller sees it on the network, see the solid LED display on the device that says it's working properly on the network, and then be required to reset it to factory settings to get it to automatically work perfectly. What about the settings was not "factory" when I took it out of the box 5 minutes ago???
Likely a returned unit.. Maybe a QC unit that didn't get reset after testing.
