Automatic shutdowns or logoffs

[semmons]

Can anyone explain an automatic logoff and resutling automatic logon

of a Windows CE hand held device?

This unit has a Cisco Aironet 4800 lan card installed and operates

within different operating environments of a warehouse using

Aironet 4800 Access Points. These logons can be singular or

repeat many times in certain areas of coverage. This has been

very frustrating to understand, let alone try to derive a solution.

Any help would be appreciated.

scott

[ciscomoderator]

Often times complex troubleshooting issues are best addressed in an interactive session with one of our trained technical assistance engineers. While other forum users may be able to help, it’s often difficult to do so for this type of issue.

To utilize the resources at our Technical Assistance Center, please visit http://www.cisco.com/tac and to open a case with one of our TAC engineers, visit http://www.cisco.com/tac/caseopen

If anyone else in the forum has some advice, please reply to this thread.

Thank you for posting.

[kkulp]

Very often situations like this are difficult to pinpoint over the phone or through a forum. You may want to consider having a wireless integrator evaluate the situation, which may require a site visit.

That said, I'd be happy to provide as much assistance as possible through this forum or directly if you like.

Please detail further the 'logoff/logon' issue. Is this an application logon/logoff that is occurring or some other logon/logoff?

[semmons]

Greetings,

Thanks for your question.

Here is the best answer I can provide at this time:

In a warehouse we are picking certain products as directed

by an application embedded in a hand held wireless client.

At some point in an aisle within the picking area, the client is

directing the orderfiller where to go for the next pick and how

many to pick and confirmation of the pick point and quantity.

Within this "application" process the hand held device suddenly

stops all analog messaging, the orderfiller receives no analog messaging

and he "hears" nothing but silence in the headset. Suddenly without prior

warning or knowledge the client re-initiates and "boots up" with a resulting

logon procedure requesting the orderfiller (end user) to give password

etc. etc. as if the orderiller and hand held device had just been turned on to

begin the new orderfilling session.

This is the type of "logoff/logon" problem I wish to define.

If it is application directed then what is the controlling variable? What would

be directing this action?

If it was hardware related-- Which I thought it was, so I field tested many

different weak/fresh battery pack scenarios, but to no avail. A weak or dead

battery offered a completely separate reaction from the application. We never

had a single "power down" procedure within the application. There were always a lot of warnings before a shutdown procedure.

Also, I can marginally follow in real time the communications session with

each hand held device. The battery test was visible in these debug sessions.

The sudden "logoff/logon" problem described above was NOT!

Does this help?

thank you again for the response and your consideration,

scott

[blue.modal]

When you say 'logoff' do you disassociation or loss of authentication at the AP?

If so there are parameters that can be set at the AP and the client to help that.

Matthew Wheeler

Blue Modal

[semmons]

Greetings Matthew,

Thank-you for your question.

I must apologize for my tardy response, I have been

disabled until today.

My deffinition of "logoff" is this: The client was responding

in analog to the end user (an orderfiller in a warehouse) suddenly, the

orderfiller notices the client has gone "dead" (no sound, no

response) and then, the client initiates a brand new

log on procedure with corresponding analog messages.

There is no notice or indication that in the middle of a "pick"

the orderfiller's client would logoff like this. This might happen

only once in a particular aisle or it might happen numerous times

in any aisle or in a particular area of an aisle. We have eliminated

the battery pack as a source of the problem.

Is "disassociation" mutually exclusive to "loss of authentication"?

Is one an AP issue, while the other a client software or a timing issue?

Thanks for the help,

scott

[blue.modal]

Both association and authentication happen at the AP.

When you say 'analog', do you mean that it uses an audible beep?

Assuming that this happens with multiple client devices connecting to multiple APs, I would start watching the AP console screen - it will show the start/stop time of every authentication and association.

I had an installation where excessive noise on Channel 1 caused cells using that channel to periodically add and drop clients very quickly - too quick for other APs to pick them up.

Matthew Wheeler

[semmons]

Greetings Matthew,

Thank you for your questions.

This particular wireless process involves a

hand held device loaded with a digital to analog

conversion that makes use of english voice

commands to initiate communications between

an Orderfiller and an inventory picking system.

The "analog" is not an audible beep but actual

synthetic voice commands.

For example:

the device will "say"-- "Pick 3"

"The percentage performance of your last trip was . . . ."

"Do you want to try again"

"Password . . . . . "

etc. etc.

Logoff refers to the immediate termination of all voice commands

from the hand held device to the Orderfiller (end user).

I think you have a good suggestion about the Channel scenario with

noise. I will post a technical question internally to pursue this more directly.

This seems rational on reflection.

Thank you for hanging in there for me.

I know this is a very complex issue to follow.

scott