School wifi setup

[flo5]

I look after meraki wifi for a school and currently have APs in most adjoining classroom but still running into issues when multiple devices (around 30 per room) connect at the same time.  Any suggestions?  We have had issues in the past with APs close to each other so wondered if we would benefit from setting every other one as repeater?

Thanks.

[marce1000]

                                   >...but still running into issues

  - Suggestions will depend on description of these issues as experienced.

 M.

[flo5]

Issues when multiple Chromebooks try to connect at the same time.  This is sometimes a few classrooms (with own AP) in close proximity with 30 students in each.   Often takes 10 minutes before all devices are connected.  My understanding is that an AP (M32) should be able to handle up to 30 devices with no problem.  

[marce1000]

 - If your are validating your wifi infrastructure then you need to determine if this is specific for chromebooks or not (are other devices in the classrooms experiencing the same problem ?)  , you may post here too  :

              https://community.meraki.com/t5/Wireless-LAN/bd-p/wireless-lan

                                            Below are some sample references :

    https://www.lifewire.com/fix-chromebook-that-wont-connect-to-wifi-4802488

    https://community.meraki.com/t5/Wireless-LAN/HP-G4-Chromebooks-dropping-connection-on-MR46/td-p/97628

 M.

[balaji.bandi]

its all depends on the users - tried up to 30 on meraki works as expected,

as i read thread you using Meraki AP (please confirm)

[flo5]

We have had similar reports with multiple iPads connecting at same time too.  The APs are Meraki MR32

[Leo Laohoo]

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@flo5 wrote:

We have had similar reports with

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Rule #1 in WiFi Troubleshooting:  TEST & VERIFY complaints.  Make sure someone goes and make sure the stories line up.  We are all but humans and "exaggeration" is a vicious tool to get attention.

[balaji.bandi]

Do you have any mornitoring system monitor connected ports ? what is the utilisation ?

[Philip D'Ath]

What exactly does the user see happening?

Are you using WPA2-Enterprise mode?  If so, is the RADIUS server able to authenticate users at the rate they are connecting?  Perhaps it is maxing out.

What does Meraki Wireless Health say?

Anything interesting in the Meraki WiFi event log?

[flo5]

Thanks for the responses, on further investigation we now think issue is related to max bandwidth being reached stopping the devices from being able to sign in rather than issue with Meraki.  

[patoberli]

Max bandwidth of what? The AP should probably easily handle 30 clients just being connected without transferring data. 

I'm not sure with Meraki, but check if you can somewhere see the channel load/utilization of an affected AP, for 2.4 and also 5 GHz. You need to check this while the problem is happening. If it closes in to >70% you're typically in trouble. That would then need some channel/signal strength planning, or in other words a site survey. 

[alexschl]

I am also searching for my jaipur school wifi setup, If you found any helpful guide please let me know. Thanks