WLC 5Ghz enabled SSIDs not visible in available networks

[Raj .G]

We are using WLC 2504 with 2 Access Points AIR-CAP2702I-D-K9. I'm facing some slow performance issue with wifi enabled clients(Macbook Pro). As all the clients we use are Macbook Pro laptops which supports 802.11ac, I created a new WLAN(SSID) with Radio 802.11a only to force all the laptops to use 5Ghz band to check what it makes difference. The SSID is not visible as a available network at the client if the SSID radio is set to '802.11a only' though it is marked to broadcast ssid. '802.11ac' is also enabled in the network at '802.11a/n/ac' sections of Wireless.

Does this mean my Access Points don't support 802.11ac?

[Rasika Nayanajith]

The SSID is not visible as a available network at the client if the SSID radio is set to '802.11a only' though it is marked to broadcast ssid.

This mean client device not seen 5GHz SSID or AP does not broadcast it properly. 

Can you check make radio policy "all" and see clients connecting in 5GHz ? Ensure AP 5GHz radio are up

HTH

Rasika

*** Pls rate all useful responses ***

[Raj .G]

rasikanayanajith  

I can see the SSID when the radio is set to 'all'.

We already have 2 SSIDs, one for Company work and another for Guest access. We daily use these SSIDs during working and both the radios are set to 'all'. Whenever I look at the WLC UI console dashboard, non of our clients(MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Mid 2014)) connect to 5Ghz.

So, I created the 3rd SSID with radio 802.11a only to forcefully use the 5Ghz, but the SSID itself is not listing when it's in 802.11a only.

[Rasika Nayanajith · Accepted solution]

Yes, the Country is set to US which is not correct, Does it make any difference?

As Leo pointed, this is the problem. Configure the correct country code where this AP operates (as per the AP detail, it should be in INDIA). Refer below

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/wireless/access-points/product_data_sheet0900aecd80537b6a.html

Refer this post to see how you can configure it

https://mrncciew.com/2013/04/07/configuring-country-codes-on-wlc/

HTH

Rasika

*** Pls rate all useful responses ***

[Raj .G]

I worked!. Thanks!.

Any idea why my bandwidth is very low from below stats, I was expecting it to reach 1G(~900):

Wireless

iperf -c 192.168.1.30 -i 1 -t 60 -w 1M
------------------------------------------------------------
Client connecting to 192.168.1.30, TCP port 5001
TCP window size: 1.00 MByte (WARNING: requested 1.00 MByte)
------------------------------------------------------------
[  4] local 192.168.1.103 port 50233 connected with 192.168.1.30 port 5001
[ ID] Interval       Transfer     Bandwidth
[  4]  0.0- 1.0 sec  15.6 MBytes   131 Mbits/sec
[  4]  1.0- 2.0 sec  17.6 MBytes   148 Mbits/sec
[  4]  2.0- 3.0 sec  15.8 MBytes   132 Mbits/sec
[  4]  3.0- 4.0 sec  15.9 MBytes   133 Mbits/sec
[  4]  4.0- 5.0 sec  16.6 MBytes   139 Mbits/sec
[  4]  5.0- 6.0 sec  17.1 MBytes   144 Mbits/sec
[  4]  6.0- 7.0 sec  17.0 MBytes   143 Mbits/sec
[  4]  7.0- 8.0 sec  17.5 MBytes   147 Mbits/sec
[  4]  8.0- 9.0 sec  15.5 MBytes   130 Mbits/sec
[  4]  9.0-10.0 sec  15.6 MBytes   131 Mbits/sec
[  4] 10.0-11.0 sec  16.5 MBytes   138 Mbits/sec
[  4] 11.0-12.0 sec  12.0 MBytes   101 Mbits/sec
[  4] 12.0-13.0 sec  8.25 MBytes  69.2 Mbits/sec
[  4] 13.0-14.0 sec  14.8 MBytes   124 Mbits/sec
[  4] 14.0-15.0 sec  16.0 MBytes   134 Mbits/sec
[  4] 15.0-16.0 sec  17.9 MBytes   150 Mbits/sec
[  4] 16.0-17.0 sec  15.2 MBytes   128 Mbits/sec
[  4] 17.0-18.0 sec  15.5 MBytes   130 Mbits/sec
[  4] 18.0-19.0 sec  16.5 MBytes   138 Mbits/sec
[  4] 19.0-20.0 sec  16.5 MBytes   138 Mbits/sec
[  4] 20.0-21.0 sec  16.4 MBytes   137 Mbits/sec
[  4] 21.0-22.0 sec  16.1 MBytes   135 Mbits/sec
[  4] 22.0-23.0 sec  15.6 MBytes   131 Mbits/sec
[  4] 23.0-24.0 sec  14.9 MBytes   125 Mbits/sec
[  4] 24.0-25.0 sec  16.9 MBytes   142 Mbits/sec
[  4] 25.0-26.0 sec  16.5 MBytes   138 Mbits/sec
[  4] 26.0-27.0 sec  19.0 MBytes   159 Mbits/sec
[  4] 27.0-28.0 sec  18.0 MBytes   151 Mbits/sec
[  4] 28.0-29.0 sec  14.2 MBytes   120 Mbits/sec
[  4] 29.0-30.0 sec  14.8 MBytes   124 Mbits/sec
[  4] 30.0-31.0 sec  15.9 MBytes   133 Mbits/sec
[  4] 31.0-32.0 sec  15.9 MBytes   133 Mbits/sec
[  4] 32.0-33.0 sec  16.4 MBytes   137 Mbits/sec
[  4] 33.0-34.0 sec  13.5 MBytes   113 Mbits/sec
[  4] 34.0-35.0 sec  15.9 MBytes   133 Mbits/sec
[  4] 35.0-36.0 sec  16.2 MBytes   136 Mbits/sec
[  4] 36.0-37.0 sec  15.0 MBytes   126 Mbits/sec
[  4] 37.0-38.0 sec  15.1 MBytes   127 Mbits/sec
[  4] 38.0-39.0 sec  15.0 MBytes   126 Mbits/sec
[  4] 39.0-40.0 sec  13.5 MBytes   113 Mbits/sec
[  4] 40.0-41.0 sec  15.4 MBytes   129 Mbits/sec
[  4] 41.0-42.0 sec  13.6 MBytes   114 Mbits/sec
[  4] 42.0-43.0 sec  15.0 MBytes   126 Mbits/sec
[  4] 43.0-44.0 sec  16.4 MBytes   137 Mbits/sec
[  4] 44.0-45.0 sec  16.4 MBytes   137 Mbits/sec
[  4] 45.0-46.0 sec  14.0 MBytes   117 Mbits/sec
[  4] 46.0-47.0 sec  16.2 MBytes   136 Mbits/sec
[  4] 47.0-48.0 sec  15.5 MBytes   130 Mbits/sec
[  4] 48.0-49.0 sec  18.1 MBytes   152 Mbits/sec
[  4] 49.0-50.0 sec  15.4 MBytes   129 Mbits/sec
[  4] 50.0-51.0 sec  15.5 MBytes   130 Mbits/sec
[  4] 51.0-52.0 sec  18.6 MBytes   156 Mbits/sec
[  4] 52.0-53.0 sec  18.5 MBytes   155 Mbits/sec
[  4] 53.0-54.0 sec  17.0 MBytes   143 Mbits/sec
[  4] 54.0-55.0 sec  16.1 MBytes   135 Mbits/sec
[  4] 55.0-56.0 sec  17.6 MBytes   148 Mbits/sec
[  4] 56.0-57.0 sec  16.8 MBytes   141 Mbits/sec
[  4] 57.0-58.0 sec  18.6 MBytes   156 Mbits/sec
[  4] 58.0-59.0 sec  17.5 MBytes   147 Mbits/sec
[  4] 59.0-60.0 sec  16.5 MBytes   138 Mbits/sec
[  4]  0.0-60.0 sec   957 MBytes   134 Mbits/sec

Wired

iperf -s
------------------------------------------------------------
Server listening on TCP port 5001
TCP window size:  128 KByte (default)
------------------------------------------------------------

[  4] local 192.168.1.30 port 5001 connected with 192.168.1.103 port 50233
[  4]  0.0-60.0 sec   957 MBytes   134 Mbits/sec

[Rasika Nayanajith]

You won't see 900Mbps (or ~1Gbps) in reality. You would get  400-500 Mbps throughput in average if you have 3SS stream client. See below for some testing I have done long time back

https://mrncciew.com/2014/01/10/802-11ac-with-cisco-3700-ap/

Pls attach "show client detail <mac_addr>" output for this client to see what rate they associate.

HTH

Rasika

*** Pls rate all useful responses ***

[Raj .G]

(Cisco Controller) >show client detail client_mac_addr
Client MAC Address............................... client_mac_addr
Client Username ................................. N/A
AP MAC Address................................... AP_mac_addr
AP Name.......................................... My_AP_Name2
AP radio slot Id................................. 1  
Client State..................................... Associated     
Client User Group................................
Client NAC OOB State............................. Access
Wireless LAN Id.................................. 1  
Wireless LAN Network Name (SSID)................. My SSID
Wireless LAN Profile Name........................ My SSID Access
Hotspot (802.11u)................................ Not Supported
BSSID............................................ xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx 
Connected For ................................... 3825 secs
Channel.......................................... 36
IP Address....................................... 192.168.1.103
Gateway Address.................................. 192.168.1.1
Netmask.......................................... 255.255.255.0
IPv6 Address..................................... xxxx::aebc:xxxx:feb9:xxxx
Association Id................................... 4  
Authentication Algorithm......................... Open System
Reason Code...................................... 1  

--More-- or (q)uit
Status Code...................................... 0  
Session Timeout.................................. 0  
Client CCX version............................... No CCX support
QoS Level........................................ Silver
Avg data Rate.................................... 0
Burst data Rate.................................. 0
Avg Real time data Rate.......................... 0
Burst Real Time data Rate........................ 0
802.1P Priority Tag.............................. disabled
CTS Security Group Tag........................... Not Applicable
KTS CAC Capability............................... No
WMM Support...................................... Enabled
  APSD ACs.......................................  BK  BE  VI  VO
Power Save....................................... OFF
Current Rate..................................... m6 ss2
Supported Rates.................................. 6.0,9.0,12.0,18.0,24.0,36.0,
    ............................................. 48.0,54.0
Mobility State................................... Local
Mobility Move Count.............................. 0
Security Policy Completed........................ Yes
Policy Manager State............................. RUN
Policy Manager Rule Created...................... Yes
Audit Session ID................................. none

--More-- or (q)uit
AAA Role Type.................................... none
Local Policy Applied............................. none
IPv4 ACL Name.................................... none
FlexConnect ACL Applied Status................... Unavailable
IPv4 ACL Applied Status.......................... Unavailable
IPv6 ACL Name.................................... none
IPv6 ACL Applied Status.......................... Unavailable
Layer2 ACL Name.................................. none
Layer2 ACL Applied Status........................ Unavailable
mDNS Status...................................... Enabled
mDNS Profile Name................................ default-mdns-profile
No. of mDNS Services Advertised.................. 0
Policy Type...................................... WPA2
Authentication Key Management.................... PSK
Encryption Cipher................................ CCMP (AES)
Protected Management Frame ...................... No
Management Frame Protection...................... No
EAP Type......................................... Unknown
Interface........................................ management
VLAN............................................. 0
Quarantine VLAN.................................. 0
Access VLAN...................................... 0
Local Bridging VLAN.............................. 0

--More-- or (q)uit
Client Capabilities:
      CF Pollable................................ Not implemented
      CF Poll Request............................ Not implemented
      Short Preamble............................. Not implemented
      PBCC....................................... Not implemented
      Channel Agility............................ Not implemented
      Listen Interval............................ 10
      Fast BSS Transition........................ Not implemented
Client Wifi Direct Capabilities:
      WFD capable................................ No
      Manged WFD capable......................... No
      Cross Connection Capable................... No
      Support Concurrent Operation............... No
Fast BSS Transition Details:
Client Statistics:
      Number of Bytes Received................... 563790
      Number of Bytes Sent....................... 628275
      Total Number of Bytes Sent................. 628275
      Total Number of Bytes Recv................. 563790
      Number of Bytes Sent (last 90s)............ 45424
      Number of Bytes Recv (last 90s)............ 46701
      Number of Packets Received................. 4948
      Number of Packets Sent..................... 4642

--More-- or (q)uit
      Number of Interim-Update Sent.............. 0
      Number of EAP Id Request Msg Timeouts...... 0
      Number of EAP Id Request Msg Failures...... 0
      Number of EAP Request Msg Timeouts......... 0
      Number of EAP Request Msg Failures......... 0
      Number of EAP Key Msg Timeouts............. 1
      Number of EAP Key Msg Failures............. 0
      Number of Data Retries..................... 2269
      Number of RTS Retries...................... 0
      Number of Duplicate Received Packets....... 106
      Number of Decrypt Failed Packets........... 0
      Number of Mic Failured Packets............. 0
      Number of Mic Missing Packets.............. 0
      Number of RA Packets Dropped............... 0
      Number of Policy Errors.................... 0
      Radio Signal Strength Indicator............ -72 dBm
      Signal to Noise Ratio...................... 25 dB
Client Rate Limiting Statistics:
      Number of Data Packets Received............ 0
      Number of Data Rx Packets Dropped.......... 0
      Number of Data Bytes Received.............. 0
      Number of Data Rx Bytes Dropped............ 0
      Number of Realtime Packets Received........ 0

--More-- or (q)uit
      Number of Realtime Rx Packets Dropped...... 0
      Number of Realtime Bytes Received.......... 0
      Number of Realtime Rx Bytes Dropped........ 0
      Number of Data Packets Sent................ 0
      Number of Data Tx Packets Dropped.......... 0
      Number of Data Bytes Sent.................. 0
      Number of Data Tx Bytes Dropped............ 0
      Number of Realtime Packets Sent............ 0
      Number of Realtime Tx Packets Dropped...... 0
      Number of Realtime Bytes Sent.............. 0
      Number of Realtime Tx Bytes Dropped........ 0
Nearby AP Statistics:
      My_AP_Name1 (slot 0)
        antenna0: 74 secs ago.................... -70 dBm
        antenna1: 74 secs ago.................... -82 dBm
      My_AP_Name1 (slot 1)
        antenna0: 15 secs ago.................... -72 dBm
        antenna1: 15 secs ago.................... -72 dBm
      My_AP_Name2 (slot 0)
        antenna0: 74 secs ago.................... -74 dBm
        antenna1: 74 secs ago.................... -83 dBm
      My_AP_Name2 (slot 1)
        antenna0: 16 secs ago.................... -78 dBm

--More-- or (q)uit
        antenna1: 16 secs ago.................... -71 dBm
DNS Server details:
      DNS server IP ............................. 192.168.1.1
      DNS server IP ............................. 192.168.1.1
Assisted Roaming Prediction List details:


 Client Dhcp Required:     False
Allowed (URL)IP Addresses
-------------------------

AVC Profile Name: ............................... none

(Cisco Controller) >

[Rasika Nayanajith]

As per your client stats, here are the important parameters

Channel.......................................... 36
Current Rate..................................... m6 ss2

Radio Signal Strength Indicator............ -72 dBm
Signal to Noise Ratio...................... 25 dB

Your client is getting -72dBm with 25SNR, which is not that strong signal. So you can't achieve higher data rates. (refer table below)

What is the DCA channel width configured in 802.11a/n/ac band (20MHz,40MHz or 80MHz) ?

Here is SNR value reference table to get MCS rates. Since your client get 25SNR, you are getting MCS6 value.

Here is the reference link to above charts

http://www.wlanpros.com/mcs-index-802-11n-802-11ac-chart-3/

Below document may useful when interpreting 802.11ac data rates

https://supportforums.cisco.com/document/11938046/how-interpret-80211ac-datarates

HTH

Rasika

*** Pls rate all useful responses ***

[Raj .G]

What is the DCA channel width configured in 802.11a/n/ac band (20MHz,40MHz or 80MHz) ?

I set it to 40MHz width!

When the clients were in 2.4Ghz I could see between (-50 - -67)dbm and I remember mine was around (-65 - -67)dbm. After forcing to 5Ghz, now it's -72dbm

[Leo Laohoo · Accepted solution]

Post the complete output to the WLC command "sh sysinfo".  There could be an issue with incorrect country code setting on the WLC.

[Raj .G]

leolaohoo  

(Cisco Controller) >show sysinfo

Manufacturer's Name.............................. Cisco Systems Inc.
Product Name..................................... Cisco Controller
Product Version.................................. 8.0.115.0
Bootloader Version............................... 1.0.20
Field Recovery Image Version..................... 7.6.101.1
Firmware Version................................. PIC 20.0


Build Type....................................... DATA + WPS

System Name...................................... cisco
System Location..................................
System Contact...................................
System ObjectID.................................. 1.3.6.1.4.1.9.1.1279
IP Address....................................... 192.168.1.100
IPv6 Address..................................... ::
Last Reset....................................... Power on reset
System Up Time................................... 3 days 2 hrs 35 mins 14 secs
System Timezone Location.........................
System Stats Realtime Interval................... 5
System Stats Normal Interval..................... 180

--More-- or (q)uit

Configured Country............................... US  - United States
Operating Environment............................ Commercial (0 to 40 C)
Internal Temp Alarm Limits....................... 0 to 65 C
Internal Temperature............................. +31 C
External Temperature............................. +35 C
Fan Status....................................... 4200 rpm

State of 802.11b Network......................... Enabled
State of 802.11a Network......................... Enabled
Number of WLANs.................................. 3
Number of Active Clients......................... 30

Burned-in MAC Address............................ XX:XX:XX:XX:97:E0
Maximum number of APs supported.................. 75
System Nas-Id.................................... cisco
WLC MIC Certificate Types........................ SHA1/SHA2

(Cisco Controller) >

Yes, the Country is set to US which is not correct, Does it make any difference?

[Leo Laohoo]

Yes, the Country is set to US which is not correct, Does it make any difference?

As I suspected, the WLC is configured for the US but the AP has a Regulatory Domain of "-D".  

This is the reason why the AP will not broadcast any SSID in the 802.11a radio.  This is to be expected.

[Raj .G]

As you said after changing the Country to match mine worked!. I could see the SSID in the available networks & my clients can connect to 5Ghz band. Thanks!

[Leo Laohoo]

Thanks for taking the time to rate our posts.  :)