MR33 seen as "switch" by Cisco SmartPort

[DaveG]

I recently deployed MR33 APs on a network using Cisco 2960X PoE switches. I set the SmartPort role of the ports connected to the APs to the "Access Point" role.

The switch periodically checks to make sure the proper roles are applied to match the connected device. The SmartPort function of these switches is seeing the APs advertised as a switch and is recommending to apply the "switch" SmartPort role to the port the AP is connected to. Has anyone else using Meraki APs connected to Cisco switches seen this? Just trying to figure out if this is a bug in the SmartPort detection algorithm or a bug in the LLDP advertisement of the AP.

I have 20 MR33 APs connected across 3 switch stacks made up of these 2960X 48-port switches. Seeing the same behavior on all of them. 

[DavidH · Accepted solution]

Hi Dave,

I just did a packet capture on a MR33 running firmware version 25.3 and can confirm that it only has the "WLAN access point" capability set (0x8). However, CDP has 0x9 set, which signals "router" and "switch" capabilities which might be the cause for the behavior you observed. You could try disabling CDP and use LLDP instead on that port.

Thanks,

David

[DaveG]

I disabled CDP on the ports connected to access points and they are now properly detected as access points by the SmartPort check. Thanks for the help!