Authentication Issue (EAPol Timeout) on WPA 2 PSK SSID

[Cisco Support]

We are not use Authentication servers to authenticate wireless users.

Just use only WPA 2 encryption mode for authenticate wireless users.

But we identified there are lot of EAPol timeouts happened during the client authentication

What would be the issue for this EAPol timeouts

Is this issue occurring from end user device or Access Point side ?

How Can we minimize this eapol timeout issue?

Guys Help me to rectify this issue

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Problem

The original poster reported experiencing numerous EAPol timeout issues during client authentication on their WPA 2 PSK SSID network that doesn't use authentication servers, asking whether the issue originates from end-user devices or access points and how to minimize these timeouts.

Summary

Community discussions reveal several solutions, with enabling fast roaming 802.11r being the primary solution that successfully resolved the EAPol timeout issue for at least one user. Other users experiencing the same issue expressed initial skepticism about how 802.11r could solve PSK-related issues but were willing to try the solution. Additional suggested troubleshooting approaches included: checking for RF interference, verifying client device compatibility, examining network congestion, reviewing power settings on client devices, and ensuring proper SSID configuration. The problem appears to be related to the wireless authentication handshake process timing out during the four-way handshake between clients and access points, and while there was no explicit confirmation from the original poster about which solution worked, the 802.11r fast roaming feature was highlighted as the most effective fix for addressing these authentication timeouts.

[ww^]

Would first verify if your clients running latest wifi drivers

[Cisco Support]

Thank you ww for your reply....!

• This issue affects not only a few specific users.
• This issue randomly affects every user on each day and there are also devices with 802.11ax supported wireless adapters.
• If this can be avoided by updating the drivers, do we have to update the drivers of all the wireless devices?

If there is any specific configuration to rectify this issue from meraki dashboard end?

[WB2]

If it's only affecting the same users each day I would be advising them to download the latest drivers from their Wi-Fi NIC manufacturers website e.g. Intel's website NOT updating via Windows update

[MerakiGnome]

Hi @Cisco Support , what version of MR firmware are your APs on?

You mention that this is happening across all users/devices albeit sporadically throughout the day? Are all devices the same model and build?

Yes you should look to upgrade drivers across the board.

[Cisco Support]

• MR 36 - Current version: MR 28.6.1
• MR 52 - Current version: MR 28.6.1

This is an environment where legacy devices and latest devices are common.

Most of the laptops are HP and there are few other products.

External wireless adapters are also used for desktop PCs and connected to the wireless network.

However, this EAPoL timeout will affect every device.

[DimuthuSenarathna87747]

Enable 802.11r. It will fix the issue

[Cisco Support]

Thanks @DimuthuSenarathna87747

We already enable 802.11r for fast roaming. But it has not worked. Even though 802.11r is enabled for SSID, this eapol timeout continues.

[DimuthuSenarathna87747]

802.11r enabled with WPA1 and WPA2 ? or WPA2 only ?

What you see from the AP logs for the same time "Unknown Error" ?

[Cisco Support]

Thanks @DimuthuSenarathna87747

• 802.11r enabled with WAP2 only

This is the two types of AP logs we identified when users experience disconnection in the meraki dashboard

• auth_mode='wpa2-psk' vlan_id='16' reason='eapol_timeout' radio='1' vap='3' channel='56' rssi='20'
• auth_mode='wpa2-psk' vlan_id='13' reason='eapol_timeout' roam_ap='E4:55:A8:09:DD:36' radio='0' vap='0' channel='1' rssi='7'

[Philip D'Ath]

My guess - it's probably as simple as they aren't very close to the WiFi network. Perhaps they are walking out of the office, into the office, etc.

Perhaps they drive to the office and park outside. Their devices can just barely see the WiFi, and get constant timeouts till they walk inside.

[Cisco Support]

Thanks @Philip D'Ath

In your case, timeout is a very normal thing,

• but the problem here is that the wireless connection of users who are in the same place without moving also timeout.

• To explain it in another way, in this environment, a user roams from one AP to another AP even when the user is in the same place without physically moving.

• After analyzing the user's timeline, we could see that even when the user is in the same place, he connects to several nearby APs within a few seconds, and this eapol timeout occurs when the user continuously jumping nearby APs

[BigForrest]

Hi,

I have a same problem with @Cisco Support that random users on random days, our users can't connect WiFi even the AP is next to week they still can't connect. When I check the logs, it show error "reason='eapol_timeout", and user can't connect again. The workaround is we have to forget the network then re-authenticate again then it works but that happens only for few days then it happens again. Our NPS does show the user is authenticate and reply back. Any ideas?

[aneduzhk]

Hi @Cisco Support have you tried reviewing our new Wireless overview page (Wireless > Monitor > Overview) to drill down on specific problematic clients and find the root cause?

[aneduzhk]

Also, I just wanted to confirm if you are using just WPA2-PSK auth or something else like iPSK w/o RADIUS?