Meraki

PeterJames · ‎Sep 23 2020

Do let us know how the testing goes.

PeterJames · ‎Sep 23 2020

Hi All, This is not to be considered legal advice but to make you aware; In EU countries a court case (Sony v McFadden 2016) means that having a free open WiFi makes you liable. It decided the operator of a wireless network can be required to protect the network with a password in order to deter users from infringing the rights of copyright holders. The Court further decided that the right holder can claim from network operators the costs related to an injunction (e.g. to prevent future infringements). They could ask you to pay the cost of the legal advice and the costs incurred by their legal team to send you a correspondence. At the country level, each one is different. For example; UK: If you provide non-compliant Public WI-Fi and a customer suffers loss, then you would have major problems defending a civil suit and your insurance would not cover any damages awarded against you. Non-compliant in this case falls under what is reasonable [e.g. using WEP would likely not be]. The UK list goes on: A potential GDPR breach if not managed properly. Digital Economy Act 2010 is designed reduce online copyright infringement such as illegal downloading and illegal file sharing. Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, you need to be able to identify who is using your WiFi network. What I find interesting is that Meraki might have potentially opened themselves up for liability. By providing the option to block peer-2-peer, you as a service provider or end-user trust that will do its job. If you are then found in breach of that, then you could pause your "pay out" until you take Meraki to court over failure to update the mechanism in wish you trusted (under a breach of trust). Germany: the main one is the doctrine of Störerhaftung,a form of indirect liability for the actions of others. .... Please get legal advice if you are unsure. Personally, I would pay a third party to manage it or just not do it at all. What are your thoughts? Thank you, Peter James

PeterJames · ‎Sep 4 2020

Hi @Noah_Salzman , I should probably add that a workaround to the above; 1. Create a new iOS 'Privacy and Lock' profile / payload only applying to devices with the tag 'AllowActivationLock' 2. Tick 'Allow MDM Activation Lock' 3. Apply this tag to the device you want 4. After step 2 you can then apply the Activation Lock to the device without issue 5. Once applied you can remove this tag I can also see the payload / profile ordering does not matter. Thank you, Peter

PeterJames · ‎Sep 4 2020

Hi @Noah_Salzman, Thank you for reversing this change. Why cant you enable Activation Lock for an individual device if the privacy setting is is not ticked? The below only states that DEP enrolled devices will have the activation lock enabled by default at enrolled. I do not understand why this blocks locking devices on an individual level. Error on SM Platform when not ticked: Thank you, Peter James

PeterJames · ‎Aug 27 2020

Hi Meraki, The PING feature on the Meraki Access Point is a handy tool (alongside all the other great features). With the signal strength, PING success and latency this should give you sound view of connectivity. But the only live element in that is the PING success and latency, as the signal strength has a lag. Would it be possible to expand the PING feature to allow say a Default/0.5/1/2.5 Megabyte packet size? All the response needs to say on testing is how long it took for the whole PING to complete or if it failed. E.g. 0.5 Megabyte PING Test took 1.2 seconds or (if under one second) 900ms to complete. Thank you, Peter James

PeterJames · ‎Aug 26 2020

Hi Meraki, A user could have created a demo account and then you can add them to as many organisations as possible. But if you add an email address that has never had an account, you need to wait for them to verify it prior to adding them to more than one organisation. And you get the following error: "Email ********@********* is already registered with a Cisco Meraki Dashboard account. For security purposes, that user must verify his/her email address before administrator permissions can be granted here." From a security prospective this does not make sense (given the work around is to create a demo account first) and so this WorkFlow just adds an unnecessary delay / step to the process. --- Would it be possible to add trusted domains e.g. @company.co.uk so that you can add a user (with an email address for that domain) to as many as you want without it producing an error? Or remove this block? Thank you, Peter James

PeterJames · ‎Aug 26 2020

Hi @MerakiMed , I do not wish to downplay your problem, but I do find this slightly amusing that the developers put in the map default as Africa; the oldest and probably first Earth continent. As the saying goes "Do not fight your neighbour, for we all one people. Hug and embrace your neighbour, for we are all from Earth or more specifically the first continent of Africa." 🤗 Thank you, Peter James

PeterJames · ‎Aug 21 2020

Thanks @CarolineS and @Noah_Salzman

PeterJames · ‎Aug 18 2020

Someone just posted the following but then it got removed (???) Merkai Response: "Unfortunately that change is permanent and always be like this moving forward according to our Development Team. DEP devices will not be clickable until they finish enrolling and go through the setup wizard. Support do not influence or have the ability to change this or revert back to previous state. They have marked that behavior as an expected change" If this is true, it makes me very nervous.

PeterJames · ‎Aug 14 2020

Hi All, After creating a new organisation, adding a DEP Sever appeared to work without issue. There was nothing I could do to rescue the old organisation : https://n236.meraki.com/o/ACBypbSd/manage/organization/ And by nothing, I mean I had done everything from creating a new Server on ABM.... twice! Thank you, Peter James

PeterJames · ‎Aug 14 2020

Hi All, Over the last few days I have found the DEP List failing to Sync with Apple and today I had an error when adding in a new DEP Server token. Anyone needing to urgently update their DEP Server Token I would probably raise a ticket with support first. --- Apple Error when attempting to Add a DEP Server Token today: https://n236.meraki.com/o/ACBypbSd/manage/organization/ And this is the state you end up in (with no way back; can only delete organisation) I gave up trying to explain this to support under case 05001569 Thank you, Peter James

PeterJames · ‎Aug 13 2020

Hi @PhilipDAth , That was my first thought, but this has never been an issue and the fix is very odd. For example for my example the other 3 devices at the same site were completely fine. I have tested this fix over half a dozen times now and the same result; success. After being on a non-meraki internet connection, it checks in and everything is fine again. I do get the feeling iOS devices need to activate every year in the background, and something along the Meraki framework is detected by Apple as possible proxy (https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT210060) and disconnecting it along the way. In one case 90%+ of a customer devices went offline; only the newer ones remained connected. We are in the process of fixing these now. And the fix works. Thank you, Peter James

PeterJames · ‎Aug 13 2020

FYI: P/N 647392446434618064 is one that I rescued this morning. Meraki Switches, APs and SM. Between 1030-1050 BST we had to take this off the customers site and on to a hotspot. Working fine again now.

PeterJames · ‎Aug 13 2020

Hi All, We have had reports from three customers using Meraki network (APs+Network) where SM Devices go offline and do not come back on. Our devices are in Kiosk Mode so nobody has changed anything on the network side. Our fix is to take the devices off site, re-create the same SSID and magically the SM Devices come back online after one or two restarts. This is not something I can log with support as they would simply say it is a network issue or that they cannot see anything wrong at their end. We have over 100+ devices in this state and any advice from Meraki would be grateful. Thank you, Peter James

PeterJames · ‎Aug 7 2020

Hi @mustang15 , Have you tried going to the DEP page, allowing it to sync, then trying again? We had a few accounts that required the new Apple T&C's to be accepted. Or going to the SM->Apps->Accounts (top right)->Sync VPP accounts? Thank you, Peter James

PeterJames · ‎Aug 7 2020

Hi @Kevin_C , Thank you for this update. Previously we could apply Activation Lock (to a device tagged with 'Allow Activation Lock' via Settings->Profile) on the DEP page. Will this be re-introduced? In our case, a device has gone missing in transport and we wish to push the device to have an activation lock. In addition to that, we may delete a device off the SM but might want to again, push an activation lock on a missing or lost device. Thank you, Peter James

PeterJames · ‎Aug 7 2020

Just this wall myself - What is the latest from Meraki? Thank you, Peter James

PeterJames · ‎Aug 7 2020

Hi @mustang15 , We have hit this issue recently too;more than usual. The fix for us was to simple just hit App update on the App it thinks it is installed (The install/update commands is exactly the same). On a few we had to try a few times but it did eventually go through. Thank you, Peter James

PeterJames · ‎Jul 22 2020

We had over 7 iPads go offline today, maintained their WiFi but no MDM connectivity. Worse is that they are stuck in their Kiosk Application. I have farmed them back to our base to investigate further - Something is not right. No network changes took place today or overnight. Just no connectivity. Meraki Access Points too. Reached out to support but their advice was to factory reset them.

PeterJames · ‎Jul 3 2020

Hello, With the WWDC out the way now, I thought I would mention some very welcome improvements coming in iOS14. (Apple have stated that any device than can run iOS13 will be able to run iOS14!) The MDM feature list (not a full list, and Apple may pull them before release) mentioned by Apple is as follows. I have ranked them in the priority order that I would like to see. What would be yours? Setup Assistant Skip Screens for Upgrades Non-Removable iOS Apps Time Zone Awareness (Set via MDM) The ability to force delayed app software updates Content Caching Metrics via MDM* Encrypted DNS Settings VPN-tied Profiles Allow/disallow App Clips Notification configurations may now optionally specify a preview type. *Content caching allows the “sharing” of downloads from Apple (whether they are apps, books, or OS updates) between devices on the same network. A few for MacOS are as follows: Automated Enrollment Improvements Lights Out Management for Mac Pro True App “Management” for macOS UAMDM And Supervision Consolidation Feel free to add any I might have missed and if you have any question about these, let me know and I will do my best to help. We should hopefully see iOS14 beta launched this month, but only the vendors/devs have pre-zero day access to the Apple MDM Protocol Beta API. Typically there will be a switch over day in to the new API (things sometimes break at that moment), then this [doc] gets updated maybe one-two weeks later, and finally iOS14 is open to the public. Whilst the above doc PDF shows you what is possible, it does necessary mean it gets implemented. Basically, there is a list of features Apple state are mandatory and others optional. Thank you, Peter James

PeterJames · ‎Jun 30 2020

Hi @PhilipDAth, I agree - security updates should the exception here. Hacking (or is it cracking now? Oh hello HR...I do not do Crack, I was looking up hacking!) actually increase over the festive periods. But on the SM interface changes happen across the board at once. We are only told about new shiny features, not that an area was worked on which could have unintended consequences if broken. I do not blame the support staff here, as time and time again I get impression they are not even aware of any changes. Working in environments with over 300 service staff; desk, on-site and third parties. These companies have procedures and technical documentation, which are well reference. Any change to the SM interface can have a hard hit on agreed SLA's with customers and we have been in several situations where a change has meant sometimes the company can not deliver on promises to the customer on install day due to a new bug. During a trial/pilot this can be quite embarrassing, but more importantly costly. Personally, I would monitor the feature board for any indications of change and these forums. And on top of this test on the 3rd of every month that everything still works. For the restaurant and hospitality markets November (actually, the last week in October) to the second week in January become critical. And during these times larger companies freeze all but critical change control. ---- In extension of this, I have found the networking dashboard of Meraki to be far, far more stable. During Nov-Jan, I would have no issues just leaving it. Personally, I wish the automatic firmware update window worked as intended but I can live without it working. Apparently (according to support), I misunderstand the feature - Selecting "Apply firmware updates every week Tuesday 4AM" does not mean it will apply the latest firmware updates every Tuesday at 4AM. The "feature" was intended for when a new firmware is released that you go in (even thought I had it setup already), to go in and cancel the day/time, then set it up again. Only then will it apply. My bad! Thank you, Peter James

PeterJames · ‎Jun 30 2020

Hi @ErikSRQ, Yes and No. What you want is here, albeit lightly documented; https://documentation.meraki.com/SM/Apps_and_Software/Deploying_Scripts_in_Systems_Manager_using_Software_Installer#Deploying_a_Script_on_Windows I would highly recommend learning PowerShell. PowerShell is "god mode" for windows and once you learn it, you will find you might not need tool a,b,c,d,e or f. Every environment I was walked in to historically I have stripped out third party tools that cost money and used this native tool. Thank you, Peter James

PeterJames · ‎Jun 30 2020

Thanks @DJDonovan, That shift select when working with Meraki SM could have saved me so much time over the years 😁 The (deselect all) should somehow be highlighted more; may have caused an issue once or two. Thank you, Peter James

PeterJames · ‎Jun 30 2020

Personally, I will always opt for a softphone quite simply because the physical phone costs are simply too much in my opinion. £100-200 for the phone itself, £100 headset and then another £100 for the amplifier - no thank you. I may have once built a 30 man office with poundland headsets and a softphone. Do not judge me; I had two weeks to complete it by, no budget and a nearby poundland. The sound proofing to reduce background noise worked a treat. Call recordings were all clear. We adopted this approach for at least a year. Cost us on average £10/year per person on headsets. The main offices cost £200/year per person on headsets. To avoid any additional overhead, we just had a bucket with them people could collect themselves from. Thank you, Peter James

PeterJames · ‎Jun 30 2020

Hi @rhbirkelund , Good point - Primarily any interface changes or SM MDM updates. Thank you, Peter James

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