871W: Wi-fi to Wi-fi unreliable

ADVSECURITY is the base feature set. ADVIPSERVICES is the optional feature upgrade that includes DMVPN support (and 4 wired VLANs).

Cos.

The data sheet for 870 series routers is publically available at:

"Support for 2 VLANs with Base Image. One VLAN dedicated to DMZ."

Then, near the beginning of Table 5 ("Cisco IOS Software Advanced IP Services Feature Set (Optional Software Upgrade)") it says

"4 802.1q VLANs on Advanced IP Services IOS image"

that's for wired VLANs - you'll notice it mentions other numbers for wireless VLANs in Table 4.

...so basically, if you want more than 1 inside and 1 DMZ VLAN, you want to buy the Advanced IP Services upgrade.

I can't say I was aware of this particular limitation in the Advanced Security (base) feature set either, but I've never ordered an 870-series without the Advanced IP Security feature set, since I needed other features in it.

Cos.

When I originally did the research for this, I never saw any option for advanced IP" in pricing. In fact, because I am in Canada, the choice opf stores carrying Cisco equipment was rather limited. (not allowed to buy from USA stores).

How does one go about purchasing this upgrade ? Is this something Cisco could sell me nd bill my credit card ? Is this a reasonable price ?

I take it flash memory is proprietary and can only be purchased from Cisco ? Is that just a question of openingt the box and adding a memory strip to the unit ? Can USB flash drives be used ? (the unit does support USB flash drives).

Others appear to have answered your prior questions so I won't try to elaborate further.

Regarding the flash requirements.

The quoted flash requirements now include the flash needed for the web gui interface thingy. If you don't need the web gui thingy then you only need enough flash to hold the image.

For example this message is being sent via an 877 that has

c870-advipservicesk9-mz.124-15.T7.bin

the image is 18950320 bytes.

the flash is the default for old 877s of 24M.

I need no more flash.

As I recall it you can run c870-advipservicesk9-mz.124-15.T7.bin

on any 877 ever made.

Just delete the web stuff and stick to the basics.

The key tool for checking the features supported by any particular hardware and software combination is the Feature Navigator.

You MUST check that the features that you need are in the package that you are purchasing.

As mentioned, if you can't understand the feature navigator then you need to hire someone who does. Or maybe consider a simpler product that may perhaps be designed for consumer use.

As I recall, the .tar.gz one gets has the .bin and separate files for the web stuff. Does this mean that I need to unpack it on a computer, repack it without the web files and then get the router to load that smaller .tar.gz ?

16459360 c870-advsecurityk9-mz.124-15.T9.bin

So it is almost 19nmegs versus 16.5 megs.

Do routers require any flash space at run time ?

This isn't about product complexity. It ia about Cisco business practices. And now, i have to figure out how to obtain that "upgrade" assuming it is reasonably priced.

Apparently the offered product range differs per country. When I required a router for a small branch office and decided to get the 877, the local stores (in the Netherlands) that offered it had the Advanced IP Services Feature Set on it by default.

When I later got an 887, which uses the new method of installing a "Universal" IOS image that gets restricted via "licenses", it came with a Advanced IP Services license as well.

JF Mezei schrieb:

Not really at runtime.

If there is a software crash, the IOS likes to write a chrashinfo file to flash, which is between 200k and 500k. So if you have 1MB free after the IOS image (and a possible ADSL firmware image which is about 1MB too), you are fine.

Also the RAM or flash demands in Feature Navigator are not always correct or something like reproducable. It's a rough estimate, usually more on the safe side.

I'm running two 876 routers with quite complex configs (for those small boxes) with 128MB RAM / 28MB flash only with IOS 15.0.M3 as field test. Feature Navigator demands at least 192MB RAM. Still enough free RAM left after serveral weeks uptime.

I've seen IOS images for Soho96 routers ( 12.3(11)Tx, 12.3(8)YGx ) demanding 32MB according to FeatureNavigator that needed 48MB for stable operations, where 32MB were merely enough to boot with an empty config.

If you bought it from a store, they might've only had the base model available (perhaps they didn't know any better).

The data sheet probably mentions (usually towards the end) the various SKUs - ah yes, Table 10 - "Ordering Information".

It doesn't mention the SKU for the Advanced IP Services upgrade, but it's something like "S870AISK9-12402T=" (the 12402T part is a version number, which changes a lot - a much more current one would be something like S870AISK9-15001M= but you'd need to upgrade your flash to have enough room for it. Either way, a bit of googling will help you find a) the SKU you want, and b) somebody who might be able to sell it to you.

You usually have to buy this kind of stuff through a reseller, rather than from Cisco directly.

The 871 has a USB port, I seem to remember - you can plug a flash drive in there and use it for extra storage, yes.

Otherwise, places like

will sell you cheaper third-party memory and/or flash for your router. This has implications if you want support from Cisco, of course...