403 Error, Forbidden when using a CISCO Meraki AP

Error 403 Forbidden!
by Haresh Karamchandani

We received a call from a client complaining that all users in their office were getting error 403 forbidden when they try to open any web page.

Background: We have installed a CISCO Meraki MR12 Access Point which we use as a Bandwidth Manager and can remotely manage the clients Bandwidth on the Meraki cloud based dashboard. This is a fantastic device and has helped us control misuse of Bandwidth at various client sites.

We tried to troubleshoot what the problem could be and called CISCO Meraki Tech Support Hot line in the USA for advice.

The tech support staff asked us to check the DNS numbers. This could be a probable cause.

Meraki Login> Access Points>Set IP address> Secondary DNS Number.

We called up the ISP and they confirmed that they had allotted a new Secondary DNS number to this AP and they had forgotten to update us. We immediately changed the number but the Forbidden Error 403 still persisted.

Then Meraki Tech support asked us if we had enabled the splash page icon.

Configure>Splash page>Custom Themes>Classic>Enable.

This did the trick! The client does not get this forbidden error 403 anymore.