I found essentially no info on Aerohive products here, so I thought a new thread was befitting. Aerohive was acquired by Extreme Networks in late 2019, but their hardware really hasn't changed since. Like Meraki, Aerohive APs are generally meant to be cloud managed, but you can just SSH into them and configure them via the console. No need to flash a different firmware or the likes. I'm not sure if I'm the only one running one of these at home (I have an AP650), but I'm sure that won't be for long.
Observations on my part:
Basic setup:
Default username: admin
Default password: aerohive
First thing you will want to do is ensure you're running HiveOS 10.0.r4 or later (see below for updating firmware) since it adds more functionality (like DFS, but model dependent). You can either do the initial network configuration through SSH/serial console or the web UI. I'm going to assume you have DHCP on your network and can figure out what IP the AP grabs. If you want to set a static one through the web UI, navigate to the IP, login, and set it there (all self explanatory).
Next, disable the cloud functionality:
Set a new admin password:
After that, wireless configuration goes through the following flow:
Other things I've done:
My complete configuration, which you can copy/paste if you want:
Don't forget to save your configuration after you're done or else it won't be applied upon reboot.
Guest VLANs:
Create another security object and SSID. You will then need to create user profiles for each of the SSIDs to specify which VLAN they need to access:
Then assign the profiles to the security objects:
Finally don't forget to also assign the SSIDs to the interfaces (each can have multiple).
Roaming with multiple APs:
For this, you create a hive (hence Aerohive), and then tell the APs which radio and interface to use for communication between them. 5GHz radio is preferred since you have more than 3 usable channels.
More complex setups:
You're best off referring to the official CLI guide: https://docs.aerohive.com/330000/do...ation/cli_guide_ap630_ap650_ap650x-10-0r5.htm
Upgrading firmware:
Firmware upgrades are handled through the web UI. It's pretty self explanatory as you just upload the file and hit start. The trouble is of course locating the files if you don't have a contract. I'm not sure if it's appropriate to post copies of the firmware publicly since they're pay-walled, but I'm happy to provide them to anyone that wants a copy. I have the following on hand, and if you're going to purchase an AP, I would recommend sticking to one of these as they are current models:
Wrapping up:
I think that about covers things? I've been using my AP650 for a few months now and have been quite pleased with it. I regrettably have no first hand experience with other models, so hopefully others can share that here. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for improvements or things I may have omitted.
Observations on my part:
The good:
- 802.11ac models are dirt cheap on eBay. As of this post, an AP230 can be had for under $30 shipped
- 802.11ax models are fraction of the price of the competition (like Ruckus)
- Performance and range are great. Where I live, both bands are incredibly saturated (scan shows a whopping 89 APs at 2.4GHz and 51 at 5GHz), but I can still get 100MB/s+ on 802.11ac
- Very comprehensive CLI
- Basic setup can be done in under 60 seconds through CLI
- Nice hardware options (redundant PoE, software defined radios permit dual 5GHz, 2.5GbE, etc)
- Power usage well below specifications (under 10W on my AP650)
The so-so bits:
- CLI can be a bit overwhelming for complex configurations if you're not already well versed on setting up similar products
- Enthusiast user-base is currently tiny, so limited info available
- There is apparently still a free cloud managed option that I've never used. See: ExtremeCloud IQ
The bad:
- Support? I wouldn't count on it without a contract
- Downloads are pay-walled (but see below)
Basic setup:
Default username: admin
Default password: aerohive
First thing you will want to do is ensure you're running HiveOS 10.0.r4 or later (see below for updating firmware) since it adds more functionality (like DFS, but model dependent). You can either do the initial network configuration through SSH/serial console or the web UI. I'm going to assume you have DHCP on your network and can figure out what IP the AP grabs. If you want to set a static one through the web UI, navigate to the IP, login, and set it there (all self explanatory).
Next, disable the cloud functionality:
no capwap client enable
Set a new admin password:
admin root-admin admin password [password]
After that, wireless configuration goes through the following flow:
- Create radio profile(s)
- Create security object
- Create SSID
- Assign security object to SSID
- Assign radio profile(s) to interface(s)
- Assign SSID to interface(s)
radio profile [radioprofile1]
radio profile [radioprofile1] phymode 11ax-2g
- Sets the profile to 802.11ax in the 2.4GHz band (still retains backwards compatibility)radio profile [radioprofile1] short-guard-interval
- 400ns guard interval helps with performanceradio profile [radioprofile1] band-steering enable
- This helps distribute the load between 2.4GHz and 5GHz bandsradio profile [radioprofile1] weak-snr-suppress enable
- Ignore clients with bad signal to noise ratiosradio profile [radioprofile1] band-steering mode prefer-5g
- Force clients to 5GHz if possibleradio profile [radioprofile2]
radio profile [radioprofile2] phymode 11ax-5g
- Sets the profile to 802.11ax in the 5GHz band (still retains backwards compatibility)radio profile [radioprofile2] dfs
- Enables dynamic frequency selection, which helps with crowdingradio profile [radioprofile2] channel-width 160
- Enable 160MHz channel width for maximum throughputradio profile [radioprofile2] short-guard-interval
security-object [objectname]
security-object [objectname] security protocol-suite wpa2-aes-psk ascii-key [password]
- You could set this to WPA3 if you wantssid [ssidname]
ssid [ssidname] security-object [objectname]
interface wifi0 radio profile [radioprofile1]
interface wifi1 radio profile [radioprofile2]
interface wifi0 ssid [ssidname]
- Same SSID broadcasts on both bands. You could set up multiple if you want, but with band steering, I didn't see a pointinterface wifi1 ssid [ssidname]
Other things I've done:
no system led power-saving-mode
- Bright LEDs are annoyingsystem led brightness off
dns server-ip [ipaddress]
ntp server [ipaddress]
clock time-zone [GMToffset]
console timeout 0
My complete configuration, which you can copy/paste if you want:
Code:
radio profile [radioprofile1]
radio profile [radioprofile1] phymode 11ax-2g
radio profile [radioprofile1] short-guard-interval
radio profile [radioprofile1] band-steering enable
radio profile [radioprofile1] weak-snr-suppress enable
radio profile [radioprofile1] band-steering mode prefer-5g
radio profile [radioprofile2]
radio profile [radioprofile2] phymode 11ax-5g
radio profile [radioprofile2] dfs
radio profile [radioprofile2] channel-width 160
radio profile [radioprofile2] short-guard-interval
security-object [objectname]
security-object [objectname] security protocol-suite wpa2-aes-psk ascii-key [password]
ssid [ssidname]
ssid [ssidname] security-object [objectname]
interface wifi0 radio profile [radioprofile1]
interface wifi1 radio profile [radioprofile2]
interface wifi0 ssid [ssidname]
interface wifi1 ssid [ssidname]
no system led power-saving-mode
system led brightness off
admin root-admin admin password [password]
dns server-ip [ipaddress]
ntp server [ipaddress]
clock time-zone [GMToffset]
console timeout 0
no capwap client enable
Guest VLANs:
Create another security object and SSID. You will then need to create user profiles for each of the SSIDs to specify which VLAN they need to access:
user-profile [profilename] qos-policy [policyname] vlan-id [vlan #] attribute [attribute #]
Then assign the profiles to the security objects:
security-object [objectname] default-user-profile-attr [attribute #]
Finally don't forget to also assign the SSIDs to the interfaces (each can have multiple).
Roaming with multiple APs:
For this, you create a hive (hence Aerohive), and then tell the APs which radio and interface to use for communication between them. 5GHz radio is preferred since you have more than 3 usable channels.
hive [hivename]
hive [hivename] password [password]
interface [wireless interface] radio channel [channel #]
interface mgt0 hive [hivename]
More complex setups:
You're best off referring to the official CLI guide: https://docs.aerohive.com/330000/do...ation/cli_guide_ap630_ap650_ap650x-10-0r5.htm
Upgrading firmware:
Firmware upgrades are handled through the web UI. It's pretty self explanatory as you just upload the file and hit start. The trouble is of course locating the files if you don't have a contract. I'm not sure if it's appropriate to post copies of the firmware publicly since they're pay-walled, but I'm happy to provide them to anyone that wants a copy. I have the following on hand, and if you're going to purchase an AP, I would recommend sticking to one of these as they are current models:
- AP122
- AP130
- AP150W
- AP230
- AP250
- AP510C
- AP550
- AP650
- AP1130
Wrapping up:
I think that about covers things? I've been using my AP650 for a few months now and have been quite pleased with it. I regrettably have no first hand experience with other models, so hopefully others can share that here. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for improvements or things I may have omitted.
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