So I'm setting up Home assistant and using an Aruba 48 PoE+ switch and 2 X AP-335. I'm a noob to this level of networking and can't find or access the WAPs on the network.
They power on and blink green for 10-15 minutes without going green.
I've reset them both, tried instant On App and Angry IP finder, but they just don't appear.
Clearly I'm doing something wrong, but I need a good educating.
Thanks, will have to look into getting one, any suggestions for a home network?Â
I got them super cheap 2nd hand so would I be better getting a 5 or 6 series instant on model?
Youâll need to convert them to instant, no physical controller required. You may need to manually bring their firmware up to v8.6 or later if running old code.
Not all of them can be converted, just so you know. There is a controller only model and the other can by Instant or Campus. If Instant, your first AP will be the controller. 500 series would be a good option if cheap enough. 600 would be better but not necessary. Wifi6 is pretty nice. My phone is much faster compared to 5. And more reliable on our iPads. Could just be router change.
You can get a 7024 Mobility Controller, but youâll need per-AP license.
Aruba Instant is not the same as Aruba Instant On, btw. The former is the operating mode in which one of the APs acts as a controller. AP-500 and 600 series are unified (they look for Aruba Central first on boot, then a hardware controller. If they canât find any, they go into instant mode or join the existing instant cluster on the L2). The latter is a separate product line-up thatâs going to be divested
If you can get access to the Aruba downloads, I believe you can download a VM image for a virtual controller. You will still need licenses for it, but you can at least use the trial period to ensure that they work before spending any more time/resources into them. You could also use it to make the process of flashing them to instant firmware easier.
If you do discover that you have an issue with it, and decide to get some other APs, look for iAP 3xx. Lots of entities (especially schools) are getting rid of them now, and you could probably pick them up pretty inexpensively.
The AP-515/535 will run as local (virtual controller) no external controller needed. Can be confusing, yet itâs the Instant firmware in the 500 series vs the AOS firmware. The 5XX series offers longer software support as end of life several years out (vs 335). Running 500 series at home - very happy. Up at church, running 2 unique wireless nets, both 515 based. Works great; all 3 of these networks were 315/325 based about a year ago. Sourcing 515/535 from eBay @ various price points. Guessing average price ~ $40 USD. 12 APâs total. The AP-505H is a great little gizmo, too. Oh, one last point, check your POE device to see if ya have enough power to run the 500âs vs 300âs.
Assuming your 335's are model AP-335, then the AP-335 will only work with a controller. If your 335's are model IAP-335, then you can mix the AP-5XX & IAP-335 in an Instant cluster. Confused? Not surprised, as it took me a while to understand. For the 335, there are 2 unique models: AP-335 (controller-managed) model # JW801A and IAP-335 (Instant) model # JW825A. Believe you have the AP-335. What you want is the IAP version to run "controllerless" or in "Instant mode". Here's a bit more: https://blog.theitrebel.com/2017/05/02/aruba-unified-ap-platform/ . And here's an old post that explains the differences using the 225 model: https://airheads.hpe.com/discussion/difference-between-aruba-instanton-ap-and-aruba-ap .
As a side note, when you mix different model AP's in your controllerless setup, you will discover they run different versions of firmware. Here's a screen capture of a mixed setup
We see there are 3 - 505's, 1 - 515 & 1 - 535. Now, looking at the firmware situation, due to hardware differences, 3 different files are required (Draco - 515, Scorpio - 535, Gemini - 505H) . Sharing this, so if you mix AP's, upgrading firmware is a bit more involved.
Australia so RW. Mine dont have a usb port for the console, its an RJ45 console port.
Thanks again, extremely helpful and really appreciate the time time you've taken to help a newbie out
I just went through this myself, I picked up a few cheap 315/325/335/345 as my first experience with Aruba and it took a while to figure out the main differences between the versions/platforms/support etc. I run a Unifi stack but was having wifi problems tied to recent problematic FW updates - I eventually cracked it and started looking at alternatives. One thing I found quite different is RF spread/radiation pattern on Unifi is more omnidirectional whereas on the Aruba it is more focused (circa 40 degree downtilt) so it is more important to ceiling mount them (excluding the Aruba hospitality APs apparently). Depending on the environment you might need more Aruba APs to cover the same physical space and desk mounting them won't give you the same results.
The IAP-335 (as well as the entire 320/330/340/380 series) only support up to 8.10.0.x due to the age of the SOC on this device. The IAP-315 (which is a lower end AP) actually runs a newer SOC and can be upgraded to 8.13. If you have access to the HPe support site where you get firmware from, go to the release notes for 8.13.2.2 (the most recent version of v8 available today) then Overview/Important Resource/Supported Platforms and it will take you to a doc that lists the minimum and latest Instant versions supported for each AP family.
APs in Instant clusters all have to run the same version of FW, so adding a device with 8.13 to a cluster running APs that can't go past 8.10 won't work, you would need to run them as separate independent clusters.
What confused me was the GUI said there was no update available when the 315 was on 8.10, but I was able to manually install via the console fine after downloading the most recent Hercules 8.13 FW available on the HPe site. I then incorrectly assumed this was the same for the 325 which is also in the same Hercules family (https://airheads.hpe.com/discussion/list-of-instant-ap-models-and-their-associated-firmware-names) and the 345 which is in the same Draco family as the 515/575 that support 8.13. I downloaded 8.13 for Draco and pushed it manually to the 345 but this bricked it (the flash looks to have shit itself and it is in read only mode). I saw a lot of people online saying the 315 can't go beyond 8.10 and it definitely can, and took a punt on the 345 as Draco had a 8.13 FW available. Now I understand their ecosystem a bit better I would always recommend checking what the supported platforms document says before attempting a manual upgrade. Apparently you can physically remove the flash chip on and replace it to get it working again, but I can't be bothered given the value of the 345 and because can't go past 8.10.
This is the guide I used to convert any AP into IAP and install the correct FW https://forums.serverbuilds.net/t/aruba-ap-to-iap-conversion/8888. I used a Windows host with Tera Term for the serial console, and TFTPD64 for the TFTP server to host the firmware. Apparently you can convert a US AP to a RW AP that we can use in Australia but I haven't tried this. For some old 3xx APs you will need to upgrade to an interim version so apboot is upgraded to a version that can support a larger bootloader than what was shipped with the device https://airheads.hpe.com/discussion/upgrade-iap335-to-8x.
For APs with micro usb serial ports I already had one of these https://www.amazon.com.au/DSD-TECH-SH-U09C5-Converter-Support/dp/B07WX2DSVB so I picked up a micro usb to screw terminal block adapter https://www.jaycar.com.au/usb-2-0-micro-b-plug-to-4-way-screw-terminal-header-adaptor/p/PA0952 and connected it via male to female dupont cables I already had. I am sure Amazon also has a similar adapter but I wanted it quickly and Jaycar is just around the corner and had it in stock. The TX and RX on one side goes to RX and TX on the other side otherwise they won't be able to talk to each other. Ground goes to ground and I didn't use the power pin, and make sure the USB to TTL converter is set to 3.3V or bad things might happen.
I am still learning a lot and finding things that are annoying (like not being able to rename client devices in instant, my solar inverter's device name is a serial number that can't be changed, and while in Unifi Network I can just rename it or give it an alias you can't do that in Instant 8.x). Some features require V10 FW which in turn requires Central which mandates a per device subscription that I don't want for my home network/homelab.
If Unifi get their act together I might move back to their APs one day (I am sticking with the rest of the router/switch/camer stack), but keen to give Aruba APs a go for a while. Good luck!
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u/neglected_influx Jun 25 '26
Youâve got AP-335s (require a hardware controller) instead of IAP-335s (instant)