Converting Aruba AP-105 to IAP-105

[james_s]

I recently set up a couple of Aruba IAP-105 "instant" access points, these are enterprise controllerless access points that have their own built in virtual controllers, pretty slick. In the process I also picked up one of the AP-105 units for just the cost of postage because I was curious how similar the hardware is to the instant models. According to the info I found it's possible to convert an instant AP to a standard one but not the other way around. The hardware *looked* identical but I wasn't certain so I hooked up test clips directly to the flash chip and dumped the contents from each of the units I had.

I flashed the IAP-105 dump directly to the AP-105, powered it up and was surprised to see it booted right up and now functions perfectly as an IAP-105. The problem however is that it is an exact clone of the real IAP-105 including the MAC addresses which I have not found a way to change. This proves that the hardware is indeed identical but means that while I could easily convert AP-105's to the much more useful IAP-105's, I can't mix any of those with the real IAP-105's I ripped the ROM images from. Before I expend too much effort I'm curious if anyone has already figured out how to alter the MAC address on these or found an easier way to convert it. I discovered there is an OpenWRT build that works on them however the stock firmware is really pretty slick and makes it very easy to set up WiFi mesh networks. I don't really need more of these APs, it's really more of an academic exercise but I feel like it could be useful information for somebody. AP-105's are widely available and practically free but the requirement of a separate expensive controller really limits their usefulness.

[slmicro1909@gmail.com]

Could you share IAP-105 firmware that you read? And MAC address - it should be easy to find appropriate position of flashed MAC in firmware.
I also has some AP-105 but have not original IAP-105 firmware to be able to reflash my AP with IAP image...

[james_s]

It's not that simple. I tried a lot of different things, including firmware I got from someone else, I forget what I eventually determined but I was never able to set the MAC address to something arbitrary. Seems like the firmware I got from someone else was for an international hardware version which was different than the US version. While I could find the MAC in the firmware on mine, changing it didn't actually change it. I eventually gave up, not sure whether I still have the files or not.