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

[Michael Tremmel]

Well I spoke too soon all wireless clients Just dropped off from one of the problomatic units. I GIVE UP. I rebooted the unit and all came right back online.

[jim]

Unless the vull version of 2.0.5.2 fixes the issues I'll be putting a ceremonial axe through my WAP4410N, given the lack lustre experience of this unit and some of the other products in the Small Business range (Don't even get me started on the UC320) I think it may just be easier to avoid the risk of using them in the future.

I will continue to recommend and use the IOS driven devices so long as the quality of the devices do not slip into the realm of the Small Business equipment, for time being I cannot fault the 'proper' Cisco gear at all.

Kind Regards,

Jim.

[chancfj37]

This product is so disappointing! I would rather read this before I bought this annoying rubbish!

I downgraded the firmware from 2.0.4.2 to 2.0.3.3, it seems that the WiFi connection last a bit longer, from 2 hours to 5 hours! Can I claim this is a "dramatic" improvement?!

Setting the Key Renewal time to a longer period would help a bit on my AP.  Is it possible to set the renewal time more than 36000seconds to about 24hours and even REMOVE the limit please?  The Key Renewal process is one of the key essential problem that lets all WiFi connection drop and never receover!

[Michael Tremmel]

I received an email this morning asking if I would like a refund. That would be fine if I didn’t have 10 of these to replace at 7 different offices. In 3 different states. I don’t think they realize how much of a pain in the butt it really is to have a budget for equipment and then have that equipment be substandard. Now I have no budget for replacing them. I JUST WANT THEM FIXED AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[valeriy.vainkop]

Dear Michael (or anyone who has it :)),

>>> Can you send me beta 2.0.5.2 firmware or upload it somewhere?

Now I have 2.0.4.2 is installed, but all my 7 APs still stop responding after some random time. Sometimes the ssid disappear, sometimes it doesn't, but clients cannot recieve ip from dhcp on this AP

They all have different ssid names (a1,a2,a3 & etc), different channels (1,3,5,7,9,11,13), force 100 & wpa2-enterprise radius configured with ms nps radius.

>>> Also if anyone can help me with automation of everynight reboot, that'd be great! If you use some scripts & have guide how to use it I'd be happy

>>> Is there any Cisco AP model for the same $ or a little bit more expensive not affected by this issue? I'd be happy to exchange these 4410s.

Best regards,

Valeriy

[John Frankish]

For info, I have two WAP4410N-E V02 using firmware 2.0.4.2

One is configured as an ap and the other as wds repeater.

After many problems of the sort in the thread above, the two units have worked reliably since I installed this firmware, reset to factory default and configured them. At the moment, they have been up 46 days without problems and that was probably the last power cut.

The units are set as follows:

Force LAN Port Speed to 100M: Disabled

Wireless Network Mode: B/G/N mixed

Wireless Channel:11

Security Mode: WPA2-personal

A mixture of linux/windows machines use the network as well as iPhones and a couple of daap and upnp-dlna devices - probably the maximum number of devices connected at any one time is 5-10.

In terms of loading, bbc iplayer is regularly connected to the wds repeater to stream videos in real time without any real problems aside from the odd stutter.

[placeholder_00]

So, user community is in 3 states:

- happy, problem solved

- unhappy, getting RMAs

- waiting

I'm in last group.  I'd request RMA, but haven't really found an equivalent product (need multiple SSIDs mapped to multiple VLANs) that is stable and has comparable pricing.  Anyone have any suggestions?

@Eric Moyers - how about a status update?  Last we heard, Cisco developers couldn't replicate problem and you were collecting detailed scenarios.  I've submitted mine.  Problem continues to be reproducible, including to point were owners return units.  If you've been able to reproduce issue, any ETA on a fix?

[Eric Moyers]

Hello placeholder_00,

Cisco is actively working on a solution for this issue. We have gathered several data dumps from various customers and are trying to figure out the common piece for everyone that is affected.

I do not want this to sound like I am skating around the question. I just have limited information. I am not always subject to current testing and development and progress.

I will try to get in touch with the development team to see if there is any information I can get.

Thanks

Eric Moyers

Cisco Network Support Engineer

SBSC WIreless and Surveillance SME

CCNA, CCNA-Wireless

1-866-606-1866

[Eric Moyers]

Hi, My name is Eric Moyers. I am a Network Support Engineer in the Cisco Small Business Support Center. Thank you for using the Cisco Community Post Forums.

First Mr. Pablo Marchiori, Let me apologize. While writing a response to you, my computer froze up and your post was inadvertently deleted. I did not mean to do that.

Here is what you had written:

"Any solutions about this issue? I'm from Argentina and I'm unable to contact technical support, phone numbers are not working, I try to chat with technical support, but operator left me "hanged" several times.

I got two WAP4410N and I'm very disappointed in Cisco."

Please try and call our toll free number 1-866-606-1866, we have a Spanish team here that can assist you.

Please feel free to email me directly if you have any questions or can not get through. Hold the mouse over my name it should give you my email.

Again I am very sorry about the inadvertent deletion.

Thanks
Eric Moyers
Cisco Network Support Engineer
SBSC Wireless and Surveillance SME
CCNA, CCNA-Wireless
1-866-606-1866

[pablomarchiori]

Thanks Eric, fortunately I was able to communicate with a representative by chat, but I still have problems to call the toll free number in Argentina (0800-333-0861) This Cisco representative has had the courtesy to call me, so we are working to resolve the problem.

[deyassccna]

Hi All, 

Please treat this as just a rumor, but in my case, broadcasting SSID changed the situation.

It's been good for three weeks!

・SSID broadcast

・WPAS2-PSK

・AES

・Ethernet 100Mbps　（AUTO off)

・firmware 2.0.3.3       (Once tried 2.0.4.2 but downgraded )

*We have put two WAP4410, one with broadcasting, and another one with stealth mode.

FYI  for  someone in the world who is still having hard time with this..

[Eric Moyers]

Hi, My name is Eric Moyers. I am a Network Support Engineer in the Cisco Small Business Support Center. Thank you for using the Cisco Community Post Forums.

When you say broadcasting changed the situation, do you mean that when you turned broadcasting off that it improved?

Thanks
Eric Moyers
Cisco Network Support Engineer
SBSC Wireless and Surveillance SME
CCNA, CCNA-Wireless
1-866-606-1866

[deyassccna]

Hello, Mr.Eric Moyers san

Please excuse my poor English.. I must have you confused

I have turned broadcasting ON

(with which everybody can see the SSID)

[bbbraunschweig]

I have a WAP4410N that had been solid as a rock for years. It supports about 4 laptops, 2 android phones, and a TV that streams a lot of video, and a few other devices on occasion. About a week ago it started having many of the symptoms reported in this thread: About 24 hours after being rebooted, devices that are connected disconnect, when clients scan, sometimes the SSIDs appear, sometimes not, sometimes clients connect, negotiate DHCP, then disconnect and repeat about every second. I had made no changes before these symptoms began. I was running 2.0.3.3 since January.

The only thing I can think of that has changed is that there were some iPads connected recently that are not ususally around. I thought that perhaps some bug was uncovered by communicating with the iPads and that after they were not around I might reboot the device and be back to normal, but the problem persists. I'm rebooting about every 24 hours. I did upgrade to 2.0.4.2, but if that had helped, I wouldn't be posting here.

What could make a perfectly stable configuration fail after running fine for a year with no changes? I had been suspecting a hardware fault until I found this thread and the symptoms seem so similar, especially that it runs fine for about 24 hours after rebooting, and then the problem appears. That sounds like software, not hardware.

Do all of my symptoms agree: clients disconnect, have trouble reconnecting and if they do, they get disconnected again before long, SSIDs flakey on scan, ethernet port solid, administration works fine, nothing interesting in the logs except the authentications/associations, and everything is fixed for about 24 hours or so by a reboot?

Currently my LAN is auto (100), fixed IP address, AP mode, I have 2 SSIDs, one WPA Personal, the other WEP 64 bit, Fixed G (before the problem I think it was B/G mixed).

Thank you in advance for any insight you may have.

[sdgelectronics]

Your symptoms were very similar to mine. It worked fine for nearly a year, but awful after that. After contacting support I got a replacement which seemed ok, but performance was still a bit poor compared to what I would have expected.

In the end I put it back in the box and bought a proper access point and never looked back.