WAP2000/WAP200 Blackberry Storm 2 ARP Broadcast Issue

[wittregr]

My Blackberry Storm 2 is able to connect via Wi-Fi (WPA2-Mixed) to either the WAP200/WAP2000 but it is then unable to connect to the Blackberry Enterprise Services (BES).  If I replace the WAP200 & WAP2000 with a WAP54G it connects to the WAP easily and establishes a connect to BES easily.

I used an ethernet pack analyer to look at the traffic from the two WAP's (2000/200) and saw that the Cisco ASA-5505 (The router they are connected to) issue an ARP broadcast for the Storm 2's MAC address.  The Storm 2 does not respond and the broadcasts continue.  The same packet trace on the WAP54G shows the same ARP broadcast but with an associated response from the Storm 2.

I created a temporary work-around by adding a static ARP entry on the ASA-5505 (w/ arp-proxy enabled on the inside interface).  Now the Storm 2 connects easily to the WAP200/WAP2000, establishes a connection to the BES and allows full e-mail, browser, etc access on the Storm 2 via Wi-Fi.

It appears that the WAP200/WAP2000 is not forwarding ARP Broadcasts to the Wi-Fi connected Storm 2 or it is not returning the Storm 2's response.  Is this is setting issue on the WAP200/WAP2000 or is this a bug?

[wittregr]

Update:  Not sure why I didn't think about this sooner but I decided to look at a wider range of traffic from my two WAP's (WAP200 & WAP2000) to see if there were other ARP broadcast issues.  Sure enough I saw several identical to the Storm 2 but instead from two laptops and two IP security cameras.  It was then that I remembered my son had been complaining that his "laptop keeps disconecting" and one of the security cameras kept going "off-line".  I added their MAC addresses to the ASA-5505 static ARP table, setup proxy arp and now all those problems are now also gone.

So it is clear that this problem is wider than just the Storm 2...It was just to most sensitive!

[greg.baughman]

Are you running the 2.0.0.5 firmware?

Have you tried downgrading it?

[wittregr]

I am running 2.0.0.5.  I have not tried downgrading.  When you suggest downgrading do you mean back to 1.0.16 or to a 2.x.x.x version.  Only 2.0.0.5 and 1.0.16 are availale on the website.

[greg.baughman]

Evidently 1.0.16 *was* the prior version.

[greg.baughman]

wittregr: You had mentioned that you had forensics demonstrating the problem.  Could you PLEASE call the cisco TAC at 866-606-1866, open a case, send those forensics, and reference my case?

Cisco has said that they are unable to replicate the problem, and that without the forensics they have nothing to go on.

Thank you SO MUCH for doing this.

[wittregr]

Greg...No problem but I am out of town for a week and will not have access to the equipment or the time until the end of this week.

[greg.baughman]

A different router seems to have helped for now.

Sent from my iPhone

[nguyenviettoac]

POST removed since content violated the terms and conditions of using the community.

Regards,

Cindy Toy

Cisco Small Business

Community Manager

[wittregr]

Greg...Curious what router you had originally and what router you are now using.

  I assume you are still using the WAP2000?  I'm surprised that changing the ruter would fix the problem.  Nonetheless, it's another piece of data.

[greg.baughman]

I was using a Zyxel VSG-1200 v2 in the hotel that had problems.

When I went out this weekend to install a bunch of WAP2000's at another hotel, I programmed up one and tested it first.  *THAT* hotel is using a ZyXel VSG-1200 (original).  I tried updating the firmware on the VSG-1200 v2 at the hotel with the problems, but the problems persisted.  So I dropped a ZyXel B-4000 into the hotel with the problems, and the problems went away.

I suppose now that I'll be told it's a problem with my router, and to take it up with ZyXel.

BUT... it is another piece of the puzzle.  I'd like to point out, however, that this router worked fine for the last couple of years with DLink DWL-2000's and DWL-2100's without any connectivity issues.

Anyway... both hotels are up at the moment... and now I need to figure out what I'm going to do with a $1500 router that the hotel paid for that is sitting there idle at the moment.

Or perhaps the new firmware that they are developing for the WAP2000's will fix the issues, and I can put the 1200 back in service.

OH... another piece of information.  Before switching out the router, I tried downgrading the firmware on one of the WAP2000's.... same issue.

[nguyenviettoac]

Hi Viettoac Nguyen,

Your POST has been removed since your content  violated the terms and conditions of using the community. Please do not post anymore sales ads about your company.  If you continue to use this place to advertise your services, you will lose your rights to post.

Regards,

Cindy  Toy

Cisco Small Business

Community Manager

[mikael_lonnroth]

Cheers!

I'm having the same problems with some different laptops (Sony VAIO, Lenovo Z61m for example) and also did some packet sniffing which turned out the same results as you. The problem comes and goes though, sometimes the arps go through, sometimes not.

Did you dry it with the new firmware yet?

I just upgraded but the WAP2000 is at the office so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to hopefully find out that it's working properly now.

BR,
Mikael

[mikael_lonnroth]

Newest firmware (2.0.3.4 ? not sure about the version) didn't help.

I now had two packet sniffers logging arp packets, one on the laptop, the other on a server that I was trying to reach.

Mostly everything works ok, ie when I ping the server from the laptop the "arp who-has" packets go in both directions and everything is ok.

The problem seems to be happening sometimes randomly when the LAN-side (server) ARP entry becomes stale and the server tries to query it again, this "arp who-has" packet looking for the IP of my laptop never reaches the laptop although the layer 3 traffic works fine.

So when the error occurs heres the traffic going on:

- L3 ICMP packets FROM laptop over WLAN reach server on LAN

- ARP packets FROM server on LAN TO laptop are lost in space (so no ICMP reply even tried although I'm pretty sure it would work)

Additionally, if I remember correctly, just deleting the server address from the laptop's ARP cache (ie forcing the laptop to send a arp who-has to the server) WILL reach the server as well as magically open the gates also in the other direction so the server's arp who-has will then reach the laptop as well.

I just switched from WAP2000 to WAP54G to check whether we experience the same problems or it really is a WAP2000 issue.

We're using the WAP2000 with PoE if that makes any difference.

BR,

Mikael

[wittregr]

Mikael,

You describe exactly what I was seeing with my packet trace. I did not have

a packet trace at the wireless end so all I knew was that ARP requests were

sent but the wireless device never responded (I didn't know if the ARP

request never arrived or the response never returned).

I use a WAP200 power by POE and a WAP2000 powered by POE. Both exhibited

the same behavior.

I have since upgraded the ASA-5505 firmware to 3.2.2, WAP2000 to 2.0.34 and

the Blackberry Storm II to 5.0.0.1015.

I no longer have the problem and was able to eliminate the static ARP table

on the ASA-5505.

Unfortunately, I did not methodically replace one component at a time and

then try without the static ARP mapping so I don't know which fix finally

worked.

-- Gerhard

On Fri, Nov 12, 2010 at 1:56 AM, mikael_lonnroth <