Convert Cisco 1700/2700 Series APs to Autonomous Mode

For smaller environments it's not always cost effective to buy a WLC so the need arises to put the APs into autonomous mode.

Since the 1700/2700 series APs ship in lightweight mode, here's how to change them over to autonomous mode:

1.  Log in to www.cisco.com
2.  Click on "Support" at the top of the page.
3.  Click the "Downloads" button.
4.  Select "Wireless" from the left side.
5.  Select "Access Points".
6.  Select "Cisco 1700 Series Access Points".
7.  Select Cisco Aironet 1702i Access Points".
8.  Click "Autonomous AP IOS Software".  As of this writing the latest version is 15.3.3-JBB1(ED)
9.  Connect to the AP using a console cable.
10.  Power on the AP.  If you have a POE switch then that way is best.  If not use a power injector or power cord for the AP.
11.  Start a TFTP server on your laptop or PC and set the LAN interface to 10.0.0.1 255.25.255.0
12.  Open a serial connection to the AP.  Once the boot up finishes log in.  Remember the default password is Cisco.
13.  Enter the following commands in this order:

• enable
• debug capwap console cli
• debug capwap client no-reload
• capwap ap ip address 10.0.0.2 255.255.255.0
• capwap ap ip default-gateway 10.0.0.1
• archive download-sw /force /overwrite tftp://10.0.0.1/filename.tar

14.  Once the upload, extraction, and installation is complete (3 to 5 minutes) the AP will restart.

15.  Once the restart is completed log in and do a show version command.

16.  Verify the AP now provides access to the full suite of IOS commands.

17.  Configure as needed.

If you get any errors from the AP while it is still in lightweight mode during this process I find it easiest to just put these commands into a text file and then paste them into Putty vs trying to type them in with the lines scrolling.

I hope this helps you get your APs setup faster and don't have to deal with a complicated process.

Good luck.