Ruckus AP not accepting clients

[Jobos]

We've got 6 Ruckus 2942 AP's and every now and again a random AP refuses at accept any clients. The clients can see the AP and so can the ZD but it will not allow any connections. If I log on to the AP using its web interface and reboot it works fine after that.

 

In the last 30 days this has happened 4 times to 3 different APs so unless I've got a bad batch it must be something to do with the power. Any idea what I can do to solve this?

[Jobos]

It just happened again The class had 22 netbooks which wouldn't connect till I rebooted the AP which serves that area of the school.

 

To make matters worse I've got 25 more netbooks still in boxes to add to the network.

[White_Fi]

Hi,

 

Could you tell me what version the ZD is running?

Also what encryption method and algorithim is the SSID using?

 

Kind Regards

Stuart

[Jobos]

Yes it's 8.2.1.0 build 21

 

Currently WPA TKIP moving to WPA2 AES soon.

[White_Fi]

Ok so you are on the latest build which is a plus.

When you say the clients cant connect, are there already a number of clients connected to the AP? if so how many?

Is the Transmit power on the AP's set to auto? As well as the channel selection?

 

Stuart

[Jobos]

Both transmit power and channel are set on auto. When the problem was reported I checked ZD and 5 clients were connected to the AP in question.

[White_Fi]

OK so 5 clients is nowhere near the 25max when TKIP is used.

 

I would suggest creating a separate SSID using WPA2 AES. Use this SSID as a test SSID for the , when you experience this problem again try connecting to the AES SSID and see if the client connects.

 

The TKIP algorithm when used with WPA has some vulnerabilities in it, one of which were unknown bytes in the beacon broadcast can be responded to "unwillingly" by nearby 802.11 speaking devices even if they are connected to an entirely different network. This is rare however it basically just closes the SSID up from being used. This can be used by an attacker to start locally brute forcing the password, hence we always suggest WPA2 AES.

 

Stuart

[Jobos]

Ok thanks I'll try that. Just for information, when I looked at ZD there were 25 rouge APs. Don't know if that had any bearing on things.

[SimpleSi]

What make of netbook/what make wireless card inside of it?

 

I had/(maybe still have ) lots of problems with Samsung NC130s with realtek wireless cards

 

regards

 

Simon

[Jobos]

Yesterday the problem laptops were Toshiba A200s but we do have 15 NC130s and these have previously not connected just like the A200s did. I updated the drivers on the NC130s after I read about the problems they were having with Ruckus wireless and I thought/hoped that would be the end of it.

[mac_shinobi]

not familiar with ruckus stuff so am sure Stuart knows what he is talking about but just curious do the AP's have firmware as well as the Zone Director ?

[Edu-IT]

not familiar with ruckus stuff so am sure Start knows what he is talking about but just curious do the AP's have firmware as well as the Zone Director ?

Yes, if you have a ZoneDirector though you upgrade this and then it automatically upgrades the AP's.

[mac_shinobi]

Would it make any diff if you set the transmission power and channel were set manually instead of set to auto ? Am guessing auto mode is meant to be better - anywho will take a back seat now and leave this in the capable hands of stuart and Co.

 

edit - not sure if its the case but I re call reading somewhere that someone updated the laptops bioses ( assuming onboard NIC's ), can't remember if this is related to the same issue or not.

Edited May 29, 2010 by mac_shinobi

[TechSupp]

What make of netbook/what make wireless card inside of it?

 

I had/(maybe still have ) lots of problems with Samsung NC130s with realtek wireless cards

 

regards

 

Simon

 

interesting to hear you are still having problems with the Ruckus AP and the Samsungs, looks like they are wanting to buy Samsungs and was looking at the Ruckus AP but may lean towards just getting two Standard AP's and user two SSID's to split the load instead of one Ruckus AP as they are talking 30 netbooks.

[SimpleSi]

I'm still having problems but not sure if its down to the computers/wireless or whether its a problem with the fiel server(a NAS box ) not liking so many clients accessing it at the same time

 

I just don't have/get time for proper testing - its not a good use of pupils time to ask them to spend a lesson just testing the network every week

 

But its not been a good ride so far

 

regards

Simon

[TechSupp]

Well thats my issue as I only cover that school 1 day a week and I need a reliable solution that works. Seen a demo of the Fizz books class system but don't know what AP they used and they propose that you can use it for a full class voting system, internet use etc. May have to investigate that but was considering the N130's that you have.