rob998 Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 Hello all, I've got 300 iPads all of them connected to the wifi when they were setup. All working for the past 18 months. Suddenly I have 4 which will not connect. Nothing has changed as the other 296 all still connect and work fine. I have done factory resets, supervised and unsupervised using Apple Configurator but still no luck. The apple support have been useless so far. The message when you connect simply says 'unable to connect to 'WiFi' Using the iPhone config utility console I get the attached log. device log1.txt Does that make sense to anyone? Or has anyone had this before and found a solution? Rob
abillybob Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 Do you have enough available IP addresses? Has any of the staff connected extra devices up such as personal mobile phones that then aren't allowing these iPads to gain an IP address? 1
Michael Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 If you have enough IPs, see if you can create a test wireless network on a different subnet and see if it connects. Alternatively take one home and see if it connects here. Failing that then send them off for repair. It is possible the wireless card can go wrong, as with any computer.
rob998 Posted February 10, 2014 Author Posted February 10, 2014 Hello - thanks for the replies. We have an abundance of spare IPs so that isn't the problem. I've also taken an iPad home and it connects fine to my wireless so the iPad is fine. Don't know why 296 iPads will connect and suddenly they won't. My next step is to reboot the Meru controller and APs tonight.
Michael Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 You could try fully shutting down 10 iPads and then connect the four that don't work just to be sure. What IP range are you using? A Class A 10.x or something else? 1
mac_shinobi Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 (edited) Not sure if this is a valid suggestion but ( not in this order ) : * Update the firmware on the Meru equipment If that does not help or make any difference possibly book a support ticket with them ( they may have a non publicly available version of firmware that may resolve some issues ) Also what version of iOS do the iPads have, maybe ensure all iPads iOS is all up to date so they are the same version ? Not sure if it will make any difference or help etc but within iOS I know you can go to settings --> general --> Scroll to the bottom --> Reset --> Reset Network Settings and click yes and let it reboot and then try and connect to the wireless again on the problematic ipads Just some thoughts Edited February 10, 2014 by mac_shinobi
jmcdermott Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 I would suspect a mac address block within the wireless controller, try connecting one of them to any old stand alone wireless AP you have lying around. 2
rob998 Posted February 10, 2014 Author Posted February 10, 2014 You could try fully shutting down 10 iPads and then connect the four that don't work just to be sure. What IP range are you using? A Class A 10.x or something else? I'm using Class B
jonnykewell1 Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 Are you on IOS7? if so try going into settings>safari>block cookies> and select "from third parties and advertisers". I had multiple problems when mine was set to never when I upgraded to IOS7.
rob998 Posted February 10, 2014 Author Posted February 10, 2014 I'll try the reboot of the Meru equipment tonight and see where I get. All iPads are running 7.0.4. Tried various combinations of resetting the network - simple reset, enable aeroplane mode and reset (as suggested on tinterweb).
Michael Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 I'll try the reboot of the Meru equipment tonight and see where I get. All iPads are running 7.0.4. Tried various combinations of resetting the network - simple reset, enable aeroplane mode and reset (as suggested on tinterweb). You could also try a static configuration as an idea before rebooting the controller.
rob998 Posted February 10, 2014 Author Posted February 10, 2014 Are you on IOS7? if so try going into settings>safari>block cookies> and select "from third parties and advertisers". I had multiple problems when mine was set to never when I upgraded to IOS7. from third parties and advertisers is already selected :-(
mac_shinobi Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 I'll try the reboot of the Meru equipment tonight and see where I get. All iPads are running 7.0.4. Tried various combinations of resetting the network - simple reset, enable aeroplane mode and reset (as suggested on tinterweb). Not sure if iPhone iOS versions correspond with iPad version of iOS, however my iPhone has 7.05 and believe they are working on 7.1 to resolve an issue where by you can turn off Find My iOS Device, although may not help with the networking issue(s) you mention. Are all iOS ( iPads ) connecting to the same AP or what exactly, you able to logon to each AP or the Zone Director etc to see which AP's each iPads are associated with ??
rob998 Posted February 10, 2014 Author Posted February 10, 2014 Not sure if iPhone iOS versions correspond with iPad version of iOS, however my iPhone has 7.05 and believe they are working on 7.1 to resolve an issue where by you can turn off Find My iOS Device, although may not help with the networking issue(s) you mention. Are all iOS ( iPads ) connecting to the same AP or what exactly, you able to logon to each AP or the Zone Director etc to see which AP's each iPads are associated with ?? When I log in to the Meru Controller and select the list of connected devices the MAC for the iPads in question are no listed - so they are no cached in the system. Assigning a static IP to the iPad doesn't get a connection.
rob998 Posted February 10, 2014 Author Posted February 10, 2014 You could also try a static configuration as an idea before rebooting the controller. Static IP doesn't give me a connection.
mac_shinobi Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 When I log in to the Meru Controller and select the list of connected devices the MAC for the iPads in question are no listed - so they are no cached in the system. Assigning a static IP to the iPad doesn't get a connection. If it was a windows or linux system I presume it would get a dhcp ip address and in the list of devices would show the MAC Addy of the device that is connected ?
rob998 Posted February 10, 2014 Author Posted February 10, 2014 If it was a windows or linux system I presume it would get a dhcp ip address and in the list of devices would show the MAC Addy of the device that is connected ? Yes the Meru shows a list of connected devices from its management console
mac_shinobi Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 I would suspect a mac address block within the wireless controller, try connecting one of them to any old stand alone wireless AP you have lying around. When I log in to the Meru Controller and select the list of connected devices the MAC for the iPads in question are no listed - so they are no cached in the system. Assigning a static IP to the iPad doesn't get a connection. Yes the Meru shows a list of connected devices from its management console [ATTACH=CONFIG]22789[/ATTACH] From the above quote's and your comment, I would say that the iPad's don't appear to be getting a valid connection , presumably as per @jmcdermott comment as otherwise you would see the MAC Address of the iPad Device(s) in question. Do you have any authentication ie certificate required or anything like that or is it just a WPA2 encryption with the relevant key etc or what exactly ? 1
rob998 Posted February 10, 2014 Author Posted February 10, 2014 From the above quote's and your comment, I would say that the iPad's don't appear to be getting a valid connection , presumably as per @jmcdermott comment as otherwise you would see the MAC Address of the iPad Device(s) in question. Do you have any authentication ie certificate required or anything like that or is it just a WPA2 encryption with the relevant key etc or what exactly ? It is just WPA2 with key. Scheduled a reboot on the wireless network tonight so will update in the morning. This is a strange issue as there is nothing complicated about the connection process. Nothing changes on the Meru Wireless (nothing needs to as it works) - I only log in once a week to check logs etc so I know the config hasn't changed. 1
psydii Posted February 10, 2014 Posted February 10, 2014 (edited) If you've got a MacBook Pro to hand, you could sniff the iPad's connection attempts and compare to some that work. Edit: ... sniff... with wireshark. (iPhone app crashed and had to redraft this post, and then I went and forgot to mention the all important name of the tool!) If the problem isn't faulty iPads/ios config , a reboot of the controller and the ap's should fix it. Edited February 10, 2014 by psydii 2
rob998 Posted February 11, 2014 Author Posted February 11, 2014 Hello, A reboot of the controller and ap's has resolved this issue. The affected iPads are connecting fine this morning. Thanks for all the suggestions guys - good to know i'd tried almost everything before resorting to a reboot.
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