WAP561 keeps becoming unresponsive.

[Kirkland Yuknis]

Greetings,

We have a Cisco WAP561 for our organization that keeps randomly going down. I can't find any commonality in each of the cases. The following are the symptoms:

1. All connections are dropped, both networks from the WAP become undiscoverable.

2. When I go to the switch, it shows that the WAP is no longer connected. All other functions on that switch continue to operate normally.

3. I can not access the dashboard in my browser with a computer connected to the switch in another room.

3. Lights are lit to indicate normal operation, even though the WAP in its entirety is down.

4. The room is theatre-like, so the room is not the issue.

There were 29 connections last time it went down, which is typical at this time.

The solution (at the moment) is to unplug and plug it back in. But this is unacceptable, as key elements (soundboard and video streaming) of our setup are controlled wirelessly via iPads.

Any assistance you can offer would be greatly appreciated!



-Kirkland





Sent from Cisco Technical Support iPhone App

[Eric Moyers]

Hello Sir, I am sorry that your having an issue with your WAP. Could I get you to describe the topology between the router that you have and the WAP?

If it is connected to a switch, are the lights for that port on? How often does this happen? If you look at the GUI when you can access it, is it on a static channel?

Just trying to run down some info that could help with trying to resolve this without having to get you to call in.

Thanks

Eric Moyers    .:|:.:|:.

Cisco Small Business US STAC Advanced Support Engineer

Wireless Subject Matter Expert

CCNA, CCNA-Wireless

866-606-1866

Mon - Fri 09:30 - 18:30 (UTC - 05:00)

*Please rate the Post so other will know when an answer has been found.

[Kirkland Yuknis]

It goes straight from the router to the WAP.

Internet Gateway -> Router -> PoE Injector -> WAP

(over CAT6e)

The lights are on, though not blinking on the router.  I tried plugging it in to another router and an unmanaged switch and the same problem exists.  I've also used a multi-meter and annother WAP to make sure that it's not the PoE and it is not.  I'm awfully confident the problem is at the WAP.  I can't find anything in the configuration that makes me think that is the cause, the green features are turned off.  only 2 VAP's are on it, also rogue AP detection is turned on.

it happens randomly, once within an hour of eachother and another time it was a week or so inbetween.

VAP 1 - unisolated

VAP2 - isolated

[turlockpoker]

Eric,

We are also seeing this.  I have been troubleshooting with an escalation engineer for weeks now.  There has to be something going on here, it's not isolated to just one person.  Part of the problem is there are really no debug logs for what is going on under the covers.  The only logs we get on the syslog server say , AP associated a user, AP disconnected a user that's it...then it just stops...

Come on guys we REALLY need some progress here!

[Eric Moyers]

Who are you working with and what is your case number? I would like to look in on the case.

Eric Moyers

[jorzecho65]

Eric,

I too seem to be having the same problem with (2) WAP561's.

I am not using the Captive Portal, but do have them in a single point setup.

I am running the latest firmware that is supposed to correct the issue of wireless clients not being able to connect. v1.2.0.2.

http://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/td/docs/wireless/access_point/csbap/wap5x1/release_notes/WAP551_561_Frame_1_2_0_2_MR2.pdf

CSCul73641: Wireless clients lose connection/cannot connect to the AP periodically

I have included the support information for both WAP's.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

John Orzechowski

[Eric Moyers]

Hello, I am sorry to hear that your are having issues.

For the disconnects, in the new firmware 1.2.0.2, there is an option MFP under the SSID if the unit is using "N" speed.  We have found disabling this feature has resolved quite a few disconnect issues.  The way to set this to "Not Required" is to:

This option is located where you configure the SSIDs (so Wireless->Networks then there's a link under each SSID to "Show Details"), but it ONLY appears if you disable WPA-TKIP.

If it is set to "Capable" (the default) then the WAP will expect clients that advertise they support it to have to use it. If set to “Required” then only wireless clients that can use PMF will be allowed on this SSID. If set to “Not Required” – self-explanatory.  I would set this setting to “Not Required”  If they need TKIP enabled, just disable it first, make the change for MFP, and then set TKIP back to enabled. Monitor this and let me know the results.

Eric Moyers
.:|:.:|:. CISCO | Cisco Presales Technical Support | Wireless Subject Matter Expert

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[jorzecho65]

Eric,

I have made the changes you have suggested.  So far so good.  I will continue to monitor.

[Eric Moyers]

Great, look forward to hearing the results.

Eric

[jorzecho65]

Eric,

Well, several devices would not connect to the wireless last night.  I had the MFP set to "Not Required", but had left the WPA-TKIP disabled.  Last night I renabled the WPA-TKIP and the wireless clients were able to connect.  Now we will see how long this setting will last.  Is there any way to gather some logs to figure out what is going on?

Thanks,

John

[Eric Moyers]

Thanks for the update. Were they older devices? Maybe those only used TKIP. Please let me know the results.

Eric Moyers 

[jorzecho65]

Eric,

We are using iPad2's and iPhone4s.

[Eric Moyers]

Would not think those would care about TKIP. 

Eric

[jorzecho65]

Eric,

Well, it took 13 days...but the wireless hung up again.  I went in and disabled TKIP and renabled, then the wireless clients were able to connect.

Can we do any further diagnostics to figure out why this happens?

/John

[Eric Moyers]

Short of running some wireshark captures, cant think of anything right now. Since this has persisted, I would suggest calling in and opening a case. Make sure to have the engineer document everything you have done up to this point. They should go ahead and help you gather the wireshark and get that loaded into the case. Once you get the case number established let me know and I can also work with that engineer. If you reach someone in the US chances are they are someone I trained. If not most of the others I have worked with and they know me and know how to contact me.

They should ask for wireless scans of your area and a description of where the AP's are located. BUt we really need to get this into a case.

Eric Moyers