Extreme Systems AP3825i - any hope?

Hardware Questions and Recommendations
1

Potential Colleagues - I am a new user here.

I recently purchased an Extreme AP3825i access point which I want to figure out how to make work and eventually incorporate in a with a 3 or 4 box system here at my residence. In what I've read so far from the sparse documentation on line for this unit, once powered up I need only to plug into the console rj45 port via serial and I am hoping there is a setup script similar to other wifi boxes I've worked with. What I've read only suggests that there is something that can be one this way, and my Spidey sense is telling me that there may be some gotcha's here (subscription costs? Minimum valid platform (i.e. discontinued and in the process of being put to sleep by the vendor.) I decided to join here and see what I can glean.

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2

The stock firmware requires a controller server. But you can replace with OpenWrt and use it like any other router.

Installation will require an RJ-45 RS232 console cable like is used with Cisco equipment. These are usually flat cable that is blue-green in color.

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3

Thanks mk24. I'll get one of those cables then and give it a go. I expect I'll be back asking more newbie questions in a few days.

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4

I have hope that you will get it working. I have performed the thorough installation procedure multiple times across many 3825 devices. It has been extremely reliable. I am using the 3825 as dumb APs, a wireless client (for wired devices to connect to), and even as my head end router - all without issue. It is an extremely capable device delivering way more than any typical household will ever need. I have 300Mps Internet.

5

I'm sorry for boarding you inside a topic, but I've been trying to flash 5 AP3825i with openwrt and got no luck.

I'm using windows with direct ethernet connection, tftpd64 with enabled dhcp server and everything works ok loading initfram and loading openwrt. The trouble comes when trying to load the temp file with winscp because I cannot reach 192.168.1.1 as per the instructions say.

Checking the putty console using the rj45 console cable and checking ifconfig says ip 192.168.1.1 is assigned to bridge, and neither eth0 or eth1 has IP address assigned. From windows neither ping nor arp -a could detect a device.

Am I doing anything wrong? Tried using snapshot and release initframs but still cannot connect to openwrt via scp.

6

I have found the solution. The firmware by default uses ipv6 dhcp and my network is ipv4, had to use ubuntu to gain access to device and change that setting. Hope this helps to future issues for people with ipv4.

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7

I've got a stupid question...
What does a "Cisco Style RJ45 Serial Cable" look like? Is a DB9 on one end and RJ45 on the other? Can I use a USB to Serial RJ45 cable like this one?

61jolt6dKcL.AC_UF1000,1000_QL80
61jolt6dKcL.AC_UF1000,1000_QL801000×549 50.6 KB

61LZ6srk-+L.AC_SL1000
61LZ6srk-+L.AC_SL1000860×757 54.1 KB

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8

Yes to both, but these days the later tends to make more sense.

2 Likes
9

Sorry to link to another forum, but when I was upgrading mine I found these instructions very helpful.

10

Hi,

Think I have managed to brick mine, I cannot see it on my network now also?



U-Boot 2010.12.6 (Feb 26 2014 - 12:51:09) (primary)

Power LED ON
CPU0:  P1020E, Version: 1.1, (0x80ec0011)
Core:  E500, Version: 5.1, (0x80212051)
Clock Configuration:
       CPU0:800  MHz, CPU1:800  MHz,
       CCB:400  MHz,
       DDR:333.333 MHz (666.667 MT/s data rate) (Asynchronous), LBC:25   MHz
L1:    D-cache 32 kB enabled
       I-cache 32 kB enabled
Board: P1020RDB CPLD: V15.15 PCBA: V15.0
rom_loc: nor upper bank
SD/MMC : 4-bit Mode
eSPI : Enabled
I2C:   ready
SPI:   ready
DRAM:  Configuring DDR for 666.667 MT/s data rate
DDR: 256 MiB (DDR3, 32-bit, CL=6, ECC off)
Testing DRAM from 0x00010000 to 0x000fffff
DRAM test phase 1:
DRAM test phase 2:
DRAM test passed.
FLASH: 64 MiB
L2:    256 KB enabled
MMC:  FSL_ESDHC: 0
PCIe1: Root Complex of mini PCIe SLOT, x1, regs @ 0xffe0a000
  01:00.0     - 168c:003c - Network controller
PCIe1: Bus 00 - 01
PCIe2: Root Complex of PCIe SLOT, x1, regs @ 0xffe09000
  03:00.0     - 168c:0033 - Network controller
PCIe2: Bus 02 - 03
In:    serial
Out:   serial
Err:   serial
Net:   eTSEC1, eTSEC3
### JFFS2 loading '/home/config/shadow'
rescan: First time in use
Scanning JFFS2 FS: . done.
load: loaded '/home/config/shadow' to 0xfac05d0 (57 bytes)
### JFFS2 load complete: 57 bytes loaded
Hit 'd' for diagnostics, or any other key to stop autoboot:  0
### JFFS2 loading 'diag.gz.uImage'
find_inode failed for name=diag.gz.uImage
load: Failed to find inode
### JFFS2 LOAD ERROR<0> for diag.gz.uImage!
ERROR: Problem with diag image, dropping to interactive shell

[30s timeout]
login: sdmin
password: new2me

[30s timeout]
login:

U-Boot 2010.12.6 (Feb 26 2014 - 12:51:09) (primary)

Power LED ON
CPU0:  P1020E, Version: 1.1, (0x80ec0011)
Core:  E500, Version: 5.1, (0x80212051)
Clock Configuration:
       CPU0:800  MHz, CPU1:800  MHz,
       CCB:400  MHz,
       DDR:333.333 MHz (666.667 MT/s data rate) (Asynchronous), LBC:25   MHz
L1:    D-cache 32 kB enabled
       I-cache 32 kB enabled
Board: P1020RDB CPLD: V15.15 PCBA: V15.0
rom_loc: nor upper bank
SD/MMC : 4-bit Mode
eSPI : Enabled
I2C:   ready
SPI:   ready
DRAM:  Configuring DDR for 666.667 MT/s data rate
DDR: 256 MiB (DDR3, 32-bit, CL=6, ECC off)
Testing DRAM from 0x00010000 to 0x000fffff
DRAM test phase 1:
DRAM test phase 2:
DRAM test passed.
FLASH: 64 MiB
L2:    256 KB enabled
MMC:  FSL_ESDHC: 0
PCIe1: Root Complex of mini PCIe SLOT, x1, regs @ 0xffe0a000
  01:00.0     - 168c:003c - Network controller
PCIe1: Bus 00 - 01
PCIe2: Root Complex of PCIe SLOT, x1, regs @ 0xffe09000
  03:00.0     - 168c:0033 - Network controller
PCIe2: Bus 02 - 03
In:    serial
Out:   serial
Err:   serial
Net:   eTSEC1, eTSEC3
### JFFS2 loading '/home/config/shadow'
rescan: First time in use
Scanning JFFS2 FS: . done.
load: loaded '/home/config/shadow' to 0xfac05d0 (57 bytes)
### JFFS2 load complete: 57 bytes loaded
Hit 'd' for diagnostics, or any other key to stop autoboot:  0
Wrong Image Format for bootm command
ERROR: can't get kernel image!
   XIP Invalid Image ... OK
OK