Cisco Aironet unstable - Wireless network with multiple AP's

loxthefox · 07-20-2006

* RESOLVED * (Despite the OP's inability to understand the replies in this thread, and only due to spoonfeeding from the people at forums.wi-fiplanet.com)

I've buildt a relative large wireless network for an camping resort, and I have some troubles with stability.

This is how the network is buildt:

Total of 5 AIR-AP1231G-E-K9 Cisco Aironet AP1210 802.11g IOS software, 54Mbit 802,11g AP's with 2 AIR-ANT2506 - Cisco Antenna, 2,4GHz 5,2 dBi Omni Dir. Antennas at each AP.

How the network is connected: www.loxus.org/camping.gif

2 AP's wired at the main bulding, then 3 AP's in "series" wireless (repeater -> parent) covering almost the entire area. (2 more AP's are being planned to cover 100% of the site).

My problem

After 5-6 weeks of uptime, the 1st (main) parent AP seems to start getting buggy. All the AP's using that one as a parent (or "grand parent"?? lol) loses the connection for about 10-20 seconds, at least 50-60 times a day. When the main AP is rebooted, everything seems to be working 100% stable for another 5-6 weeks.

I have experienced the same thing with cheap D-Link and Asus AP's also, what is the cause for this? Is there any settings I can change, or do I have to create a schedule that reboots the AP once a month?

I forgot to mention that my college mentioned something about stacks... logs.. something that builds up over time - If that can give you any hints...

Thanks for all your help in advance.

Updated 20.07.2006:
I will come back to you with the versions numbers... I upgraded them to the latest version avaliable around march 2006 I think. Don't know what that was. I'll have to get to the site to check this out tomorrow or something.

It's IOS Software yes (if you look closer in the first post

The symptoms are so easily that everyone gets disconnected from the radio/network. In WinXP you get that annoying bubble stating that there is no awaliable wireless networks around. After 10-30 seconds you get connectivity again. The radio is nowhere to be found, in winxp wlan utility, nor in netstumbler / swscanner during these 10-30 seconds.

This affects all clients connected to that AP, and every AP that uses that one as a parent (repeater). This same thing is happening on all the AP's, but AP#1 is the one with most traffic (since it holds AP#2 and AP#3's traffic also) so it's happening more frequent there.

To perform an cold restart of the AP('s) let them go for another period of weeks without problems.

streaker69 · 07-20-2006

Can you translate your map into english?

Thorn · 07-20-2006

These types of problems could be caused by any number of issues. I can see two potential probelms with that installation right off the top, and a third potential problem is alluded to in your post.

The short answer is: The campground should hire a professional installer to do it right.

Dutch · 07-20-2006

Further to streakers post : And provide the address for the invoice for tech support on your mess. Afterall if Cisco didn't want to offer you tech support on their products used, then you are prepared to pay for help, right ?
What's that you say ? You didn't ask Cisco for help on their products ? Ohh the Norwegian Cisco representative in Kristiansand, said that all tech support for their products go through the NetStumbler Forums ???

:

:

Dutch

streaker69 · 07-20-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thorn

These types of problems could be caused by any number of issues. I can see two potential probelms with that installation right off the top, and a third potential problem is alluded to in your post.

The short answer is: The campground should hire a professional installer to do it right.

I bet you saw the same things I did. But I wanted to see a translation of the map just to be sure.

Thorn · 07-20-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by streaker69

I bet you saw the same things I did. But I wanted to see a translation of the map just to be sure.

Either there the same or there's even more problems than what was obvious in a quick glance.

What's the matter, your Norwegian not up to snuff?

streaker69 · 07-20-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thorn

Either there the same or there's even more problems than what was obvious in a quick glance.

What's the matter, your Norwegian not up to snuff?

Oh, he's just fine, he's a Norwegian Blue, beautiful plummage.

wrzwaldo · 07-20-2006

I have issue with 2 --> 5

Dutch · 07-20-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by streaker69

I bet you saw the same things I did. But I wanted to see a translation of the map just to be sure.

Norwegian and Danish isn't that different. From top right to left :
Internet - LOS-Modem- Linksys broadband router - 3way Internet Control server - Ethernet Switch - Ethernet Switch- AP#1 in restaurant/bar.
AP#2 in flat 214 outdoors.
AP#3 at front desk.
AP#4 at top sanitary facilities.
AP#5 on mast at top sanitary facilities.

I'm not sure if the OP is employed by 3way (www.3way.no) or has been contracted by that company to set up the WiFi network at the campingsite, but I'm guessing on the first, based on the image hosting domain info).

But it sure seems like someone took in a job way over their head, and are hoping for a freebie repair.

Dutch

wrzwaldo · 07-20-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by streaker69

Oh, he's just fine, he's a Norwegian Blue, beautiful plummage.

He's resting.

streaker69 · 07-20-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dutch

Norwegian and Danish isn't that different. From top right to left :
Internet - LOS-Modem- Linksys broadband router - 3way Internet Control server - Ethernet Switch - Ethernet Switch- AP#1 in restaurant/bar.
AP#2 in flat 214 outdoors.
AP#3 at front desk.
AP#4 at top sanitary facilities.
AP#5 on mast at top sanitary facilities.

I'm not sure if the OP is employed by 3way (www.3way.no) or has been contracted by that company to set up the WiFi network at the campingsite, but I'm guessing on the first, based on the image hosting domain info).

But it sure seems like someone took in a job way over their head, and are hoping for a freebie repair.

Dutch

Thanks for the translation, you're a gentleman and a scholar as always. But the translation didn't answer my questions.

I'm thinking repeater/ap modes are coming into play here.

Dutch · 07-20-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by streaker69

Thanks for the translation, you're a gentleman and a scholar as always. But the translation didn't answer my questions.

I'm thinking repeater/ap modes are coming into play here.

I was thinking the same. Are 2-5 wireless WDS or repeating, etc, etc ?
And whats the idea of using a consumer device as the feed, when using enterprise grade devices for enduser connect ? FUBAR from the word gitgo...

Dutch

Thorn · 07-20-2006

OK, I was thinking hops and repeater modes. RFI is another possible problem, as are the channels. Not to mention the logging may be an issue, depending on the configuration.

Assuming the diagram is accurate, I'd want a full day just to check it out. Fixing it would be another 1-3 days depending on the physical setup. The whole thing looks screwy as hell.

Dutch · 07-20-2006

From the 3way site http://www.3way.no/index.php?o=12&p=2&c1=2&c2=0&c3=0 (norwegian only translation follows in bold)

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3way.no website

Service og support

3Way sine tjenester deles inn i følgende kategorier:

* Teknisk support, som omfatter alle tekniske funksjoner.
Dette inkluderer installering, oppgradering, feilsøking, og vedlikehold på infrastruktur.:
Service and Support

3ways services are split up in the following categories :
* Technical support, which comprises of all technical functions.
This includes installation, upgrading, faultseeking, and maintenance on infrastructure

I sure hope they add "And if we don't know how to fix it, we'll just ask at the public Netstumbler forums, hoping they'll fix our mess for free." to that section on the website.

Dutch

loxthefox · 07-20-2006

I see that you're a bunch of really nice guys here in the forum... thanks for all you help pointing out that I have a wireless connectivity between AP#2 - #5, I didn't know that ??!

Of you don't have anything constructive ore helpful to say, please just keep it to yourself :-)

"streaker69: I'm thinking repeater/ap modes are coming into play here."

So you are telling me that Cisco's repeater/parent function doesn't work?

"Dutch: And whats the idea of using a consumer device as the feed, when using enterprise grade devices for enduser connect ? FUBAR from the word gitgo..."

I honestly don't see the problem. Why should one care about using a Linksys broadban-router as a feed to our Linux-firewall... none of those have anything to do with the Wireless connection, and they have never crashed the way this "high-end" Cisco equipment does

07-20-2006	#1 (permalink)
loxthefox Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 3	RESOLVED Cisco Aironet unstable - Wireless network with multiple AP's * RESOLVED * (Despite the OP's inability to understand the replies in this thread, and only due to spoonfeeding from the people at forums.wi-fiplanet.com) I've buildt a relative large wireless network for an camping resort, and I have some troubles with stability. This is how the network is buildt: Total of 5 AIR-AP1231G-E-K9 Cisco Aironet AP1210 802.11g IOS software, 54Mbit 802,11g AP's with 2 AIR-ANT2506 - Cisco Antenna, 2,4GHz 5,2 dBi Omni Dir. Antennas at each AP. How the network is connected: www.loxus.org/camping.gif 2 AP's wired at the main bulding, then 3 AP's in "series" wireless (repeater -> parent) covering almost the entire area. (2 more AP's are being planned to cover 100% of the site). My problem After 5-6 weeks of uptime, the 1st (main) parent AP seems to start getting buggy. All the AP's using that one as a parent (or "grand parent"?? lol) loses the connection for about 10-20 seconds, at least 50-60 times a day. When the main AP is rebooted, everything seems to be working 100% stable for another 5-6 weeks. I have experienced the same thing with cheap D-Link and Asus AP's also, what is the cause for this? Is there any settings I can change, or do I have to create a schedule that reboots the AP once a month? I forgot to mention that my college mentioned something about stacks... logs.. something that builds up over time - If that can give you any hints... Thanks for all your help in advance. Updated 20.07.2006: I will come back to you with the versions numbers... I upgraded them to the latest version avaliable around march 2006 I think. Don't know what that was. I'll have to get to the site to check this out tomorrow or something. It's IOS Software yes (if you look closer in the first post The symptoms are so easily that everyone gets disconnected from the radio/network. In WinXP you get that annoying bubble stating that there is no awaliable wireless networks around. After 10-30 seconds you get connectivity again. The radio is nowhere to be found, in winxp wlan utility, nor in netstumbler / swscanner during these 10-30 seconds. This affects all clients connected to that AP, and every AP that uses that one as a parent (repeater). This same thing is happening on all the AP's, but AP#1 is the one with most traffic (since it holds AP#2 and AP#3's traffic also) so it's happening more frequent there. To perform an cold restart of the AP('s) let them go for another period of weeks without problems. Last edited by Dutch : 07-21-2006 at 05:14 AM. Reason: Resolved.

07-20-2006	#2 (permalink)
streaker69 Psychic Amish Stumbler Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Virginville, BlueBall, Bird In Hand, Intercourse, Paradise, PA Posts: 11,644	Can you translate your map into english? __________________ "One of these days, I'm going to cut you to pieces." If you're offended by this post, please feel free to report it to one of the many helpful moderators of this forum. Thank you.

07-20-2006	#3 (permalink)
Thorn Did you do the math? Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Villa Straylight Posts: 10,002	These types of problems could be caused by any number of issues. I can see two potential probelms with that installation right off the top, and a third potential problem is alluded to in your post. The short answer is: The campground should hire a professional installer to do it right. __________________ Thorn Sex and Violence. You can't enjoy one, if you don't survive the other. (And that works both ways...)

07-20-2006	#4 (permalink)
Dutch Humourless EuroMod. Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: City of Mermaids, Denmark Posts: 6,813	Further to streakers post : And provide the address for the invoice for tech support on your mess. Afterall if Cisco didn't want to offer you tech support on their products used, then you are prepared to pay for help, right ? What's that you say ? You didn't ask Cisco for help on their products ? Ohh the Norwegian Cisco representative in Kristiansand, said that all tech support for their products go through the NetStumbler Forums ??? :: Dutch __________________ All your answers are belong to Google. SEARCH DAMMIT! Warning. Warning. Low C8H10N4O2 level detected. Operator halted.... Last edited by Dutch : 07-20-2006 at 09:35 AM.

07-20-2006	#13 (permalink)
Thorn Did you do the math? Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Villa Straylight Posts: 10,002	OK, I was thinking hops and repeater modes. RFI is another possible problem, as are the channels. Not to mention the logging may be an issue, depending on the configuration. Assuming the diagram is accurate, I'd want a full day just to check it out. Fixing it would be another 1-3 days depending on the physical setup. The whole thing looks screwy as hell. __________________ Thorn Sex and Violence. You can't enjoy one, if you don't survive the other. (And that works both ways...)

07-20-2006	#8 (permalink)
wrzwaldo I amuse you? Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 9,127	I have issue with 2 --> 5

07-20-2006	#15 (permalink)
loxthefox Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 3	I see that you're a bunch of really nice guys here in the forum... thanks for all you help pointing out that I have a wireless connectivity between AP#2 - #5, I didn't know that ??! Of you don't have anything constructive ore helpful to say, please just keep it to yourself :-) "streaker69: I'm thinking repeater/ap modes are coming into play here." So you are telling me that Cisco's repeater/parent function doesn't work? "Dutch: And whats the idea of using a consumer device as the feed, when using enterprise grade devices for enduser connect ? FUBAR from the word gitgo..." I honestly don't see the problem. Why should one care about using a Linksys broadban-router as a feed to our Linux-firewall... none of those have anything to do with the Wireless connection, and they have never crashed the way this "high-end" Cisco equipment does

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