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

[dalegeffs]

When I updated the firmware the sucker worked great for several days but then started dropping transmission every 10 - 15 seconds.  I modifed my settings as Peter suggested above and so far no dropped connections but it's only been a day. Just like most others I buy Cisco because it's supposed to be to top quality equipment and that's all we use at work. I guess the small business stuff just doesn't measure up.

[Peter_Spencer]

Alas, you have not purchased Cisco gear, you have purchased Linksys rubbish as Cisco brought them out!

[jim]

Unfortunately waiting 12 months for a firmware update that made my experience with the hardware WORSE than the many many faults that existed before (new features like half the throughput of 2.0.3.3 firmware with Belkin, Atheros based NICs and Intel ProWireless N NICs).

About the only thing I haven't done is sacrifice a cat to the unit but I suspect that given the previous history with this Cisco product i'd just be short one cat and no closer to a product i'd consider worthy of a Cisco badge, hell I'd even go so far as to say it's not worthy of a Linksys badge either since the WAP120N and 160N are far more reiable and now serve the PCs in the house along side a few Android and Blackberry handsets which won't remain connected to the WAP4410N and do a darn good job of draining the battery life from the Blackberry constantly failing to associate to it after 3600 seconds of initial connection.

Every other access point I have used has never had that problem except for the 4410N, I would give DD-WRT a go if it were a supported device but sadly it is not.

I would recommend Cisco discontinue this product if they aren't at least willing to fix the common faults found with the product. I wouldn't even mind at this stage if they stripped some of the advanced features out in preference for a more predicable and reliable experience.

Kind Regards,

Jim.

[jim]

Mr Moyers,

I would gladly contact you via email but it is showing your email as 'private' and not visable to me to reply.

I'm not sure what else I can add that hasn't already been addressed, I suspect it may not be fixable given that a software revision that took a year to be released didn't seem to fix the key lifetime issue with some devices, I should say that i've yet to reproduce it with an Intel or Belkin wireless NIC aside from the 50% speed drop introduced in the lastest firmware release.

Kind Regards,

Jim.

[dalegeffs]

I've modified my privacy settings in case you have something more to add that might not be appropriate here. The next time this thing goes down I'll just trash it and buy another brand. Guess I'll start shopping today. It's too bad Cisco doesn't take this issue seriously. Ordinarily I'd think it was something wrong on my end but with all the other reports of exactly the same issue one has to believe they have a defect of some sort. The company I work for just bought a zillion dollars of Cisco gear for our data center. I wish I was in the position to make those purchasing decisions.

[Eric Moyers]

Hello Mr. Woodward, I am sorry that my email was in private. I didn't realize that it was. I have changed that now, and for anyone that would like to contact me, my email is emoyers at cisco.com (just put the @ in and close it up)

First thanks to everyone who is posting in this thread. I know that this has been a long frustrating experience for a lot of you and I am truly sorry. I can say without reservation that it is frustrating for us as well. The FW 2.0.4.2 was a step in the right direction as there are many cases where it has completely solved the customers issues. However there are still some that the issue has not gone away.

I am working on a document to send to anyone that is interested to try and capture data. Once gathered, I will send to the Business Unit to try and mine for any data that will lead to a better understanding why this has worked for some and not others.

As I am sure many of you know, but as wireless devices become more advanced, encryptions become more enhanced and network topologies are more involved that wireless in general becomes harder to troubleshoot. We have come a long way from the Cup and String. We have more advantages now than we ever have, but we also have bigger headaches at times.

Thank you for spending your time communicating here on the forums and please watch for my document to gather data about your setup.

If anyone would like to contact me directly, please do so at emoyers at cisco.com.

Eric Moyers

Cisco Network Support Engineer

CCNA, CCNA-Wireless

1-866-606-1866

[dalegeffs]

I'd be interested in the document and willing to capture data to troubleshoot the situation. My email is now available to registered users so just post it here or let me know.

[Eric Moyers]

I am talking with the Business Unit and Development team now to make sure that I get the most pertinent information for them and will post as soon as I get it finalized.

Thanks

Eric

[Eric Moyers]

The data sheet has be completed. What my full intention is is to gather enough data to see if we can determine why FW 2.0.4.2 has solved some customers issues and not others.

I truly appreciate everyones assistance with this. I cant promise a timeframe on when we find a solution, but I can promise that I will always be available to discuss progress and give out as much information that I have.

Always feel free to contact me by e-mail or call into the support center and speak with me in person. If you call in just ask for me and tell the answering engineer that it is in reference to a community post that I have written.

Eric Moyers

Cisco Network Support Engineer

CCNA, CCNA-Wireless

1-866-606-1866

[b.wakefield]

...

6 Days, 3 Hours, 25 minutes... still no problems since the firmware upload and harware reset.

It's also plugged in to a 100Mbps port on the switch. I read that might have an effect too, but I haven't changed switch ports since I pulled it out of the box and plugged it in.

;-)

Ben

[b.wakefield]

Now it's been running over 8 days no problems...

I've just added a second SSID with WPA2-Personal

[b.wakefield]

7 days since last reboot.

Conneted to 100Mb switch

SSID1 = WEP (15 - 20 clients)

SSID2 = WPA2 (1 client)

Locked up after I added the second SSID, but has been well behaved since...

[b.wakefield]

Hello!

I won't bother posting anything else after this unless I have a problem!

The access point has been running now without an issue for over 15 days.

;-)

[Eric Moyers]

Mr. Wakefield, Thank you so much for your post.

For all who have posted in this thread, I truly appreciate everyone's post, the good and the bad, especially the bad. Without those Cisco would never know where its problems lie. I know this is frustrating and drawn out, but with this particular case, we have a situation where the Firmware fixes a lot of peoples issues but there a few that it doesn't, narrowing down where what is causing the problem is not an easy process.

Thank you for your patience. Always remember, you may contact me personally at any time by e-mail emoyers@cisco.com

Thanks

Eric Moyers

[Peter_Spencer]

Alas, I too have finally RMA'd my 3 WAP4410N Access Points. I tried everything, and followed the Cisco technical instructions to the letter; but still got clients dropping-off and the units needing restarting.

I have purchased Cisco AIR-AP1142N-E-K9 to replace them - and these have been faultless. Same old story - to get good, professional quality, you need to pay.

I think that the bottom line is that the 4410N are just old Linksys boxes designed (badly) for a very small number of users - 2 or 3 in a small office for instance, with no other WiFi units around. Anything more than that and they can't hack it.

I'd like to thank the Cisco folks who have tried to help; and I hope all the problems are a lesson to Cisco on taking over NG kit when they buy another manufacturer out. You can end up just badly damaging your brand.