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Clients sticking and seem to not roam

chris.thomas
Level 1
Level 1

In our warehouse operations we have Datalogic brand Falcon X3 hand held wireless scanners.  Users drive forklifts rapidly through the warehouse and use the scanners.  When we had Cisco 1200 series autonomous access points there were no problems.  We just installed all new CAP 2702 model FlexConnect access points and a new 5508 controller.  Now the Falcon clients "stick" to a distant AP and do not seem to roam.  The same type of clients associating to access points that are NOT FlexConnect do not have this problem.  Can anyone suggest measures to (1) troubleshoot, or (2) resolve?  Thank you.   We configured "Optimized Roaming" on the controller but that only made matters much worse so we backed that off.

16 Replies 16

Leo Laohoo
Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame

We configured "Optimized Roaming" on the controller but that only made matters much worse so we backed that off.

At the end of the day, the wireless clients makes the ultimate decision to join which AP.  

What firmware is the controller running on?

In regards to "features", if the wireless clients can't support Feature "X" (in your case, Optimized Roaming) then there's a strong chance it will make matters worst.  This is to be expected but not by design.  

If an SSID with open authentication is created, will the handheld scanner roam correctly?

Thank you, the version on controller is  8.0.120.0

Thank you, the version on controller is  8.0.120.0.  And no, with open authentication, the scanners still will not roam correctly...

Thank you, the version on controller is  8.0.120.0.  And no, with open authentication, the scanners still will not roam correctly...  All such clients that are not on FlexConnect access points are not experiencing this issue.

Thank you, the version on controller is  8.0.120.0.  

What APs do you have?  

Please try 8.1.131.X.

Make sure all your APs are supported with 8.1.X.

kdavison007
Level 1
Level 1

What are your mandatory and supported data rates set to on the controller?  Devices will stick to an AP if you have all the rates selected.  

Thanks kdavision.  1 thru 11 are disabled, and 12 through 54 are supported supported.

For both 2.4 and 5?  If the devices are CCX compatible you can also turn on assisted roaming which I believe somehow tells the client it should leave the AP.  It's a checkbox somewhere.  I'd have to look it up.  However, behavior as bad as you say shouldn't need any of the more advanced WLC features to roam.  If a client is "stuck" and getting down to -80 and still hanging on when an AP nearby is much stronger I'm leaning towards this being an issue with the client.  

Thanks, I would love to say it is the clients but all the clients were working just fine with our old 1200 series Aironet APs.  No problem like this until we installed the new CAP 2702e FlexConnect access points and controller. 

I don't use FlexConnect.  Maybe it's related just to FlexConnect.  Maybe someone here will chime in that has FlexConnect experience.  Does it matter if the AP is in the same subnet or not?  I think the AP will tunnel a client back to the original subnet it associated to with FlexConnect during a roam across subnet boundaries.

All I'm going to say is this:  Try & upgrade the firmware to 8.1.131.X.  

I've used 8.0.120.X and I've seen some weird stuff happening on this code.  

Thanks kdavision.  1 thru 11 are disabled. 12 is mandatory.  18 through 54 are supported.

George Stefanick
VIP Alumni
VIP Alumni

Warehouses are very tricky. Multiplayer, inventory levels, high racking and the list goes on. I have 2700 on 8.0.121.0 and don't have these problems. We use falcon, dolphin and Motorola scanners and zebra printers. I wonder if your issue is over powered access points. 

More over clients dictate roaming. I wouldn't get fancy with tuning roaming on your controllers. Keep you controller config simple.

"Satisfaction does not come from knowing the solution, it comes from knowing why." - Rosalind Franklin
___________________________________________________________

George,

In your post, I noticed you mentioned you have zebra printers.  Are these wireless?  We are looking to deploy zebra wireless printers, and I am curious your thoughts or experience on what security you deployed?  WPA2 PSK, mac-filter, and/or 802.1X EAP-TLS?  Any other best practices you have adhered to on Cisco WLC and with wireless printers?

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