WAP4410N stops responding very often

[xvillafuerte]

Hi, we have 9 WAP4410N with PoE in our network. They were purchased on August. We found that very often in a week, they stop responding to any clients so they cannot get IP addresses, but we can ping the devices and enter the administration page. The only solution is to reboot the AP. I found some references to the same problem in the Cisco Forums and even some bad recommendations in Amazon.com about these APs, but now is too late and we need to found a solution.

We upgraded to firmware 2.0.3.3 but problem remains. We are completly sure that IP and DNS configurations are fine and that our switches and DHCP servers work fine, too. We have in the same LAN, APs 3COm from the 9150 series with no problems. These 3Com APs use the same network services that the 4410.

Currently we are testing the Force LAN to 100 Mbps option and using mixed encryption algorithms (AES and TKIP) because at the begining, we were only using AES. But, I feel that it is not a smart procedure because it is not based on any real fact; it is, may be a desperate choice.

In order to administer those APs, we normally connect at the night so we don´t affect anyone on the network. However, when I check the administration page, I can see that the utilization rate in all the APs is always more that 40%, and I am sure, nobody is using the AP at the night. Wierd. In a normal day, no more than 20 clients are connected to each AP.

Logs have no valuable information to use in order to find a solution.

So, any ideas or help would be much appreciated.

Xavier Villafuerte

[Nathanb73]

Thanks Eric. I've just sent you an email requesting a Beta firmware and I look forward to your reply.

I would like to add my voice to the frustrations from above, I have only had my unit for a couple of months and when I had to start power cycling the unit every few days I came to this forum to find some answers. I was shocked to see this problem has existed for so long with so little effort from CISCO. My previous job had me connected closly with other IT companies and I have experienced times when new firmwares have been released in a matter of only a few weeks to rectify issues.

I was also dissapointed to see that you are still actively selling a product that has had such a long history of known issues.  CISCO really should be withdrawing this product from sale until the issues have been resolved, and if this new firmware fixes the issues as has been stated on this forum, for goodness sake why wait so long to release it to the public? It can't be any worse than previous versions.

Anyway, I thank you again for doing your small part to help us out.

[AlexanderJesse]

Hello!

I am having problems with 3 WAP4410N since 4 months now.

First DHCP doesnt work in a propper way, later Radius stopped working now i cant use the repeater function.

Even the bridge function has a poor performance.

ATM i have this devices and cant use them for anything.

I allready called the support but they asked me to do:

1.      Floor plan with exact places where APs are installed

2.      Screenshots from all APs

a.      Status -> Local Network

b.      Status -> Wireless 

c.       Status -> System performance

d.      Setup -> Basic setup

e.      Setup -> Advanced Setup

f.        Wireless -> Basic Settings

g.       Wireless -> Security

h.      Wireless -> Connection Control

i.         Wireless -> VLAN & QoS

j.        Wireless -> Advanced Settings

k.       AP Mode

3.       After that wait for an email from me with recommended settings,

Then proceed with the next step.

4.       You will need to setup a dedicated syslog server in your LAN to

capture information from APs – you can use any syslog server with which you

are familiar, like KIWI syslog server, LogLady etc. 

5.       In all 4 WAP4410N go to Administration -> Log and enable Syslog

Notification and enter IP address of the PC running the Syslog server

6.       On one of the PC with WiFi adapter, install insider software from

here - http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider/ , run it for 10 minutes,

make a screenshot with the name descriptive enough to understand the

location where on the floor this scan was performed and send it to us.

Repeat the scan near each of your  WAP4410N

7.       Leave your Syslog server to capture all information from your APs

for around 24 hours. If during this period any of your AP will hang up, note

the time and the IP address of that AP and mention it in email – it will

help us to find correlation between Syslog output and that event.

what i dont want to do because it isnt my job to find bugs in Ciscos firmware.

as you allready said:

I was also dissapointed to see that you are still actively selling a product that has had such a long history of known issues.  CISCO really should be withdrawing this product from sale until the issues have been resolved, and if this new firmware fixes the issues as has been stated on this forum, for goodness sake why wait so long to release it to the public? It can't be any worse than previous versions.

now i am waiting for the new firmware to get at least one usage of this devices.

maybe someone can send me the Beta firmware to: snakeaj@gmx.at

thx

alex

[ceramicheahura]

in this thread there is a link for download the beta firmware 2.3.3_T5 , but i dont know if it is still working now .. you got try !!

https://supportforums.cisco.com/thread/2067675?tstart=0

im waiting the new firmware too ... and disappointed

[Eric Moyers]

removed

Eric Moyers

[Eric Moyers]

Small Business beta firmware can only be distributed by Small Business Support Center upon the completion of a Beta Trial Agreement. This legal requirement is in place to protect our customers and their assets.

That particular verion of software, I believe was an eariler version for a different issue. I would stress that you please be careful when downloading any type of software from a non-cisco soruce.  I know that the Community forum is a Cisco site but the person that posted the link, (which has been deleted), is not a cisco employee.

I am more than happy to work with anyone to get you the appropriate help for whatever your issue is.

I hope anyone will reach out to me, if I do not have an answer for your issue I will find someone who will.

With that said, Luca please send me your Cisco UserID and any updated phone or contact information with WAP4410N Serial Numbers with just a brief statement of your issue.

Alex, please contact me with your case number or . i will be glad to look at your issues. Since you have more than just Dropping DHCP we may need to do more than just apply the firmware. but I can better answer that once I look at your case. You can contact me at emoyersatciscodotcom.

Thanks

Eric Moyers
Cisco Network Support Engineer
1-866-606-1866

[ceramicheahura]

... is simple a war to get the beta firmware from support !!! and hope that resolve something........ we want the AP stable !!! .. i waiting months ..but nothing happen from cisco !!!    130€ x 4 AP = 520€  ...and not working !! 

[matthewmascari]

Based on the number of threads of impacted users, having every impacted user call in to support, take up call center time and support resources, and "Small Business beta firmware can only be distributed by Small Business  Support Center upon the completion of a Beta Trial Agreement." so that they can use something that by definition isn't production ready yet is the MOST EXPENSIVE way to support the product possible.

This is probably even more expensive a support model than calling the software production ready even if it's still in the beta cycle.

I would much rather see Cisco put the money into completing the software and releasing it than to talking to me on the phone.  Plus, I don't really want to be a tester and spend my resources on testing something that isn't my product to sell.

Between a WAP4410N that doesn't work in WDS mode, works in Client mode as a bridge for about a day or two, and a WRVS4400N that crashes whenever a Nook Color connects to it.  I'm wondering what the premium price of the products was buying, other than that phone support that costs more but doesn't make the actual product better.

[gdoerr56-1]

Can we at least be honest here? The Beta agreement is to protect CISCO, not your end users.

A couple of observations:

1) I already have a Cisco log in

2) Cisco allegedly is a high technology company that relys heavily on automation

3) Rather than posing the software online and making it a requirement to have a Cisco account to download it, you want people to call in to Cisco, Open a ticket and then escalate it

I don't have the time or the patience required to spend 30 minutes on hold waiting to talk to a Cisco support person then go through the total BS process of explaining what I want to do (takes another 30 minutes) just to get access to beta software that may or may not fix my problem.

At the end of the day, regardless of the cost of the Cisco product, I am going to better off going out and buying and installing a D-Link or Netgear product and throwing the Cisco product away because IT WILL TAKE LESS TIME!

I fondly remember the days of the WAP54G and WRV54G products and all the other Linksys products that worked as advertised and had relatively frequent firmware releases. This was, of course, before Cisco purchased them.

Now it appears that the only people that work at Cisco are lawyers...

[fabriciotelles]

Some follow up on this case:

I sent Eric an email with the requested info. He opened a ticket in the support system, and sent me the beta agreement.

After accepting it, without reading all the bla bla bla of course, I was contacted by a Support Engineer, who is aware of the case and sent me the firmware.

The AP is running without problems for 12 hours! Maybe it's too soon, but it seems that this new firmware solve the problem.

Before someone asks, I won't send the firmware by mail. Please follow the instructions, I guarantee that you will be very well received after all.

[gdoerr56-1]

Good news - I received the beta software (2.0.4.1_T6)

Bad news - it locks up after 15 minutes. Was getting 2 or 3 days on 2.0.3.3. Tried resetting to Factory Defaults and updating again (w/fresh download on different computer), same problem. Reverting back to 2.0.3.3-K9 now. Will post results.

Sigh...

UPDATE: Ran all night without rebooting on 2.0.3.3-K9. I'll try 2.0.4.1 again this weekend but it doesn't look good...

[AndrewMC138]

I can confirm that the beta firmware has resolved the issue with our AP.  4 days running with no issues.

[AlexanderJesse]

i just send a mail to Eric and now i am waiting for the firmware.

:-)

[Eric Moyers]

Gentlemen, I will try to address all of the latest comments in one posting.

Let me stress, Cisco and especially I want nothing more than for you to be satisfied with our product and our brand. To us, believe it or not you are very important.

I know that many of you have been frustrated at the appearance or the lack of support. I only say appearance because I know that many developer have been working getting this issue corrected and now we have the beta firmware. Everyone has been waiting, including us here in the support center, have been waiting for the final release to be made available. Until then as in all aspects of any business, all you and I can do is wait. I know that some of the process that the Cisco development teams are going through is ensuring that any of the changes that have been made to correct the current issues, do not in themselves create others for customers. They are trying to do their due diligence to ensure they quickly get a solution out, but not at the risk of creating bigger ones.

As I said earlier I will be personally responsible that each of you get escalated to the correct group that can get you the beta agreement and the beta firmware. As some have just explained the beta is working for them.

In order for me to do this, there are certain things that not I require, but that Cisco requires. For them to distribute the beta agreement and firmware they need to have a case to reference and attach the beta agreement to.

I am willing to do all of the work for you. If I have your CCOID and serial number of the WAP4410N then I can do all of the other work and get your case to the people that can give you the agreement and the firmware. Once you get that beta agreement and the firmware, please if I can help you in any way. Contact me, If I cant help you, I can get you to someone that can.

To address some other comments: This is not software that we are wanting you to test for us. As has been posted this software has fixed many customers issues. Now we do have a level of software where we ask for volunteers to help with testing. I was involved with that with our WRP400 devices and we got a lot of valuable help from the testers.

Yes the beta agreement does protect Cisco, but it is also for the customer. This agreement also gives you the knowledge that this is coming from a reputable source, not just something that someone has posted up here.

I have a WRT54GL. I will be the first to say that this router is probably one of the best routers every produced, very steady and very reliable. however this router is no where near as complex as the router of today. The same goes for AP's, the feature set for the WAP4410N is impressive, or most of you wouldn't have bought it in the first place. Cisco's name does stand for something and we got where we are in the market by always trying to do the right thing.

The same holds for Cisco today. We are trying to make this a better AP. We have made progress with the release of this beta and I will do all of the work for getting it to you. I just need some basic information to get things started for you.

Now in addition today is Friday and I will be back on Monday. If you try to contact me and I don't respond, you can rest assured that I will contact first thing Monday.

[xuridisaltd]

Hi Eric,

I would like to tank you very much for you attention to my request yesterday.  Communication from yourself and other support center staff, and the timeframe getting the Beta Agreement etc sent through was awesome.

So far it's only been around 14 hours since I implemented the firmware update.  But so far so good.

Regards,

Andrew Jensen

[xuridisaltd]

I sort of suprised there are still issues being encountered runnign the beta firmware.  Unless I've been incredibely lucky, which is not likely the case with static devices that should operate consistantly.  My APs have now been running without any hickup at all for 9 days now.

I, like everyone else, was pretty annoyed at the poor operation of the device and the seemingly inactive support.  But, I have to again say a big thanks to Erik for arranging for the Beta firmware to be supplied. Often the experiance with a company does not come down to the expected quality of a big brand, but to the service and attention to their customers shown by specific individuals within that company.  Eric and the couple of others I have delt with recently have been top notch!