There are two different models of
this access point available, a full version and a lightweight version. The lightweight
version is much cheaper than the full or autonomous version. But it is fairly
easy to convert the light version to an autonomous version; this is exactly
what I did.
To convert it you are going to need
to download the image for the autonomous version, this is available for free
from Cisco although not the newest version. You go to https://software.cisco.com/download
select wireless and then access points. From here you will get a list of all of
the different access points. Down load the newest version you can, at this
point if you do not have an account you will be prompted to create one or sign
in.
You are also going to need TFTP
server software so you can transfer the image. There is a built in one for
Windows, I do not recommend using it though, and I recommend Tftpd32 available
here: http://download.cnet.com/Tftpd32/3000-2085_4-10114225.html
. It is a very straight forward installation, after installation make sure to
select the directory that you downloaded the image to.
Next we need to log in through the
console, you can use your favorite software I like Tera Term http://en.osdn.jp/projects/ttssh2/releases/
the default username and password is Cisco, type enable and you will be prompted
for a password here we type Cisco. Once this is done we need to load the new
image from the TFTP server. Here is the command:
archive download-sw
/force-reload /overwrite tftp:// <ip address of TFTP server>/<name of the file> then press enter.
The system will restart and obtain
an IP address from the DHCP server. With this address you can now log in
through the web interface and configure your access point. Here is a link to a
video that gives step by step how to change from Autonomous to lightweight and
back. It is a very good and thorough video https://supportforums.cisco.com/video/11928901/lwapp-lightweight-mode-autonomous-conversion-and-vice-versa
Here is another walk though. http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/8-0/configuration-guide/b_cg80/b_cg80_chapter_01101010.html
