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?

[greg.baughman]

Well, I would like to put the VSG-1200v2 back inline... it gives me a lot more ability to do bandwidth shaping and so forth... but obviously until I know if the new firmware for the WAP2000 solves the ARP problem, I'm not going to risk it.

The problem is still there... I've just been sitting by waiting for a solution.

--G

[mikael_lonnroth]

Yes. The newest firmware did not solve the issue. I've tried this with two different switches as well and same result.

After replacing the WAP2000 with a WAP54G nobody has experienced the ARP problem so I'm assuming the problem is with WAP2000.

If someone from Cisco is reading this here's the exact specs of our setup:

LAN-side SERVER: Windows 2008 R2 with "Intel(R) PRO/1000 EB Network Connection with I/O Acceleration" adapter

Switch: HP ProCurve E2510G-48

WLAN: WAP2000 with 2.0.3.4 firmware

Laptop: Lenovo Z61m with "Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network Connection"

I've included a picture of a Wireshark dump of an ARP packet that didn't get through from the server to the laptop but there is (to wireshark) no difference between those that get through and those that don't.

BR,

Mikael

[mkomar-sr]

Any update and/or resolution to this?

[greg.baughman]

Nope.  The resulution was to replace all of the WAP2000's with WAP4410's.

Now, the WAP4410's have "WPS" turned on, and I have to figure out how to turn it off... because it asks about 1 in 40 people for a password.

Evidently, on the 4410's, WPS is turned OFF, until you change the SSID or the IP address, at which point it magically turns itself ON, and then you can't easily turn it off again.

I'm going to have to make a trip out there this weekend, upgrade the firmware, then log on using SSH and turn it off in the command line.

What a pain.

[mkomar-sr]

That is very disappointing and unfortunate. I've got a number of these deployed and am seeing similar problems. The release notes for the firmware reference a 2.0.5.0 which was released this month ... However, the latest firmware for download remains 2.0.4.0 which was released in Feb.

How can this problem be so well documented for so long yet remain unsolved?

[greg.baughman]

Well, I saw a note that the 2.0.5.0 firmware was released... there was a link on another thread.

I'd be curious to know if that firmware solves the ARP issues (I still have another hotel with 8 of the WAP2000's installed, but a different router that isn't having the ARP issues).

For those who want to know;

The 4410's are working, however there's a little "glitch" in the UI / firmware regarding WPS (Wireless Protected Setup).

By default, WPS is turned off on the access point.  However, as soon as you give it a static IP or change the SSID, it magically turns itself on.

First, make sure you're running the latest firmware.  This ONLY works on firmware 2.0.3.3 or greater...

So, to turn it off, you have to enable SSH connection to the access point, then make a SSH connection to the AP and issue the following command:

set wps disable

save

... that will turn off WPS (you can verify in the web UI).

Cisci REALLY needs an enable/disable checkbox on the UI for WPS.

[henrik.andersson]

Any update on this?

I have kind of the same problem, DNS information is not received via DHCP to clients. Related to ARP not functioning?

Currently running two WAP200 and one WAP2000 with the latest EU firmware. All affected clients do work well with other APs (home, hotel, cafe etc).