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Forcing A WiFi Device to Join to An Access Point

Shao-Yu Chen
Level 1
Level 1

This is just an idea, and hope it can be done. I would like to test out WCL or WISM current configuration settings on a remote site. I know I can have a lightweight AP configured and joined to the remote site's wireless controller. Now my question is how would I force my wireless device to join to the AP in front of me?! If this is doable then it will help me to troubleshoot 13 remote sites right from my office. Is there a place where I can add my WiFi device's MAC address to a specific AP? Thank you for the help.

11 Replies 11

Stephen Rodriguez
Cisco Employee
Cisco Employee

the client makes the decision on which AP to join based on RSSI + SNR + what ever magic the vendor put in place

HTH,
Steve

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please remember to rate useful posts, and mark questions as answered

HTH,
Steve

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please remember to rate useful posts, and mark questions as answered

Leo Laohoo
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame

The decision to join which AP is the sole responsibility of the wireless NIC card of the client.

You can help "influence" this by improving some of the settings on the WLC.  One of them is disable low-speed data rates from 11 Mbps and below.  Make 12 Mbps as "Mandatory" and the rest are "Supported"

You can also upgrade your wireless NIC card.  Intel has a bad run of 802.11n cards lately.  Until recently, all their drivers were useless.  I believed they released a "jumbo" pack a few months ago which helps wireless cards operate in 802.1n environment. 

Shao-Yu Chen
Level 1
Level 1

I have iPad users who are complaining their connection at the remote sites. District staff take their iPad and not be able to join the SSID we have created or very slow to get connected. At those sites, we have 5508 or 4402 WCL in place. The access points are 1231G in lightweight mode. For me to run a test for their connection quality, I might have to visit each site, and that's why I came up with this question. Since the device makes the decision on which AP to join, then I can isolate myself with no other APs in the area, and run the test. I could be making a testing lab with a 1231G AP joined with remote site's WCL in an isolated room and be able test out all possible wireless devices that school district carries. Does that sound right? Thank you for your inputs.

Post your show WLAN

Sent from Cisco Technical Support iPhone App

-Scott
*** Please rate helpful posts ***

(Cisco Controller) >show wlan 5

WLAN Identifier.................................. 5

Profile Name..................................... sdocstudent

Network Name (SSID).............................. sdocstudent

Status........................................... Enabled

MAC Filtering.................................... Disabled

Broadcast SSID................................... Disabled

AAA Policy Override.............................. Disabled

Network Admission Control

  Client Profiling Status ....................... Disabled

  Radius-NAC State............................... Disabled

  SNMP-NAC State................................. Disabled

  Quarantine VLAN................................ 0

Maximum number of Associated Clients............. 0

Maximum number of Clients per AP Radio........... 200

Number of Active Clients......................... 18

Exclusionlist Timeout............................ 60 seconds

Session Timeout.................................. 1800 seconds

CHD per WLAN..................................... Enabled

Webauth DHCP exclusion........................... Disabled

Interface........................................ sdocstudent

--More-- or (q)uit

Multicast Interface.............................. Not Configured

WLAN IPv4 ACL.................................... unconfigured

WLAN IPv6 ACL.................................... unconfigured

DHCP Server...................................... Default

DHCP Address Assignment Required................. Disabled

Static IP client tunneling....................... Disabled

Quality of Service............................... Silver

Scan Defer Priority.............................. 5,6

Scan Defer Time.................................. 100 milliseconds

WMM.............................................. Allowed

WMM UAPSD Compliant Client Support............... Disabled

Media Stream Multicast-direct.................... Disabled

CCX - AironetIe Support.......................... Enabled

CCX - Gratuitous ProbeResponse (GPR)............. Disabled

CCX - Diagnostics Channel Capability............. Disabled

Dot11-Phone Mode (7920).......................... Disabled

Wired Protocol................................... None

Passive Client Feature........................... Disabled

Peer-to-Peer Blocking Action..................... Disabled

Radio Policy..................................... All

DTIM period for 802.11a radio.................... 1

DTIM period for 802.11b radio.................... 1

Radius Servers

--More-- or (q)uit

   Authentication................................ 10.1.1.25x aaaa

   Authentication................................ 10.1.1.25y aaaa

   Accounting.................................... 10.1.1.25x bbbb

   Accounting.................................... 10.1.1.25y bbbb

      Interim Update............................. Disabled

   Dynamic Interface............................. Disabled

Local EAP Authentication......................... Disabled

Security

   802.11 Authentication:........................ Open System

   FT Support.................................... Disabled

   Static WEP Keys............................... Disabled

   802.1X........................................ Disabled

   Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA/WPA2)............. Enabled

      WPA (SSN IE)............................... Disabled

      WPA2 (RSN IE).............................. Enabled

         TKIP Cipher............................. Disabled

         AES Cipher.............................. Enabled

                                                               Auth Key Management

         802.1x.................................. Enabled

         PSK..................................... Disabled

         CCKM.................................... Disabled

         FT-1X(802.11r).......................... Disabled

--More-- or (q)uit

         FT-PSK(802.11r)......................... Disabled

      FT Reassociation Timeout................... 20

      FT Over-The-DS mode........................ Enabled

      GTK Randomization.......................... Disabled

      SKC Cache Support.......................... Disabled

      CCKM TSF Tolerance......................... 1000

   Wi-Fi Direct policy configured................ Disabled

   EAP-Passthrough............................... Disabled

   CKIP ......................................... Disabled

   Web Based Authentication...................... Disabled

   Web-Passthrough............................... Disabled

   Conditional Web Redirect...................... Disabled

   Splash-Page Web Redirect...................... Disabled

   Auto Anchor................................... Disabled

   FlexConnect Local Switching................... Disabled

   FlexConnect Local Authentication.............. Disabled

   FlexConnect Learn IP Address.................. Enabled

   Client MFP.................................... Optional

   Tkip MIC Countermeasure Hold-down Timer....... 60

Call Snooping.................................... Disabled

Roamed Call Re-Anchor Policy..................... Disabled

SIP CAC Fail Send-486-Busy Policy................ Enabled

SIP CAC Fail Send Dis-Association Policy......... Disabled

--More-- or (q)uit

KTS based CAC Policy............................. Disabled

Band Select...................................... Disabled

Load Balancing................................... Disabled

Multicast Buffer................................. Disabled

Mobility Anchor List

WLAN ID     IP Address            Status

-------     ---------------       ------

802.11u........................................ Disabled

  Access Network type............................ Not configured

  Network Authentication type.................... Not configured

  Internet service............................... Disabled

  HESSID......................................... 00:00:00:00:00:00

Hotspot 2.0.................................... Disabled

  WAN Metrics configuration

    Link status.................................. 0

    Link symmetry................................ 0

    Downlink speed............................... 0

    Uplink speed................................. 0

--More-- or (q)uit

Mobility Services Advertisement Protocol....... Disabled

District staff take their iPad and not be able to join the SSID we have created or very slow to get connected.

Firstly, you've got 1231 so which probably means you only have 802.11b enabled.  If there's only one radio, sniff the air for any co-channel interferrence.  Do you have dynamic DCA and TPC enabled?

Next, can you try to create a PSK or even OPEN and see if there are any login improvements?  Have you checked MS AD and see through the logs the event of what happened when users attempt slow login?

Hi,

Just adding....to all other answers....

There is not a way to force the wifi device to use a specific AP from the  controller side of things.  As per the specs the client decides when and  where to associate.  You could try disabling some of the lower data  rates or lowering the AP's tx power to reduce the coverage cell of each  AP.  By doing this the client might not see the other AP as favorable.

Reagrds

Not too sure if I want to do that in our environment. Do not want to interrupt other users wireless connectivity during my test with a specific access point.

What would you do if you have 10 different mobile devices and want to test them out to see how well they will react to a remote WCL? Take those 10 devices from site to site? We have 23 remote sites with WCL and WISM. Or test them in an office with an AP joined to a remote WCL? But I do not want to alter other APs in the area to make office people angry.

We have 23 remote sites

I have >98 schools to manage my wire and wireless.  I've never seen a behaviour like yours.  Then again, I don't have AP1230 in my network anymore.

Not really sure when the 1231G will be phase out totally. Some schools have controller either WCL or WISM with 1231G joined. We have been converting lots of 1231G to light weight, so we can easily change from WEP to WPA2, and also start implementing BYOD to schools that are equiped with light weight access points. BYOD is new to us, and just started this year. My team lead just announced another wireless upgrade to our core sites, and finally we will be getting ICE and Cisco Prime. With that I hope the new installation will improve users using all types of mobile devices. In the mean time we are just patching holes on a flat tire.

Ok, you're not going to get any benefits with BYOD if the 1230 will be there.

1230 are only 802.11b/g.  You can stick 802.11a radio module but at the end of the day, the 1230's FastEthernet port will be one of the bottlenecks.

In regards to WPA2, the 1230 needs to have a radio upgrade AIR-MP21G-X-K9.

Too many hassles to get an old product to support BYOD.  Plus it's already end-of-support.  If your AP dies, you have to pay a fortune in Service Contract.

You're better off getting the APs upgraded.  Talk to your Cisco SE/AM and ask them about Cisco Technology Migration Platform.  This program means that you can get a discount for every old equipment (including non-Cisco) traded-in, like-for-like.   Say you traded-in 20 APs, then you get a $$ off 20 new Cisco APs.  You can't trade in 20 APs and hope to get $$ off 21 APs.

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