WS-C3850-48P WLC issues - clients won't associate when unplugging from ethernet port

[briannbecky]

Hello,

Our company used to have a bunch of 2702 access points configured as autonomous with no problems.  We eventually configured some WS-C3850-48P switches as wireless LAN controllers.  Since that time, we've run into issues.  A typical user has a laptop in a docking station that is physically cabled into a port.  At the same time, they are connected to a SSID.  When they unplug their laptop to go to a conference room, they suddently lose their wireless connection and can't reconnect.  It takes rebooting the laptop to get associated and connected to the wireless SSID.  This never happened prior to the change to WLC.  Has anyone ever seen this?

I've done a few things to troubleshoot.  I recently went into the wireless network and noticed validate certificate was checked.  I unchecked it and then the laptop connected fine after undocking it.  But the next day the user had the same problem, and the option was still unchecked.  I then deleted the wireless profile and recreated it.  It worked, but next day it didn't.  Today I updated her wireless NIC drivers, deleted the profile and recreated it.  It worked and I'm waiting to hear how tomorrow goes.  This has been very frustrating to say the least.  If anyone could help with this, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Brian

[patoberli]

I assume you use Windows on the clients?

What kind of authentication do you have enabled on the wireless?

And do the users use their domain login on the laptop or a local login?

All of this has an influence on how the client tries to authenticate on the wireless.

I suggest you take a look in the Radius logs (if you use any kind of Radius based authentication on the wireless) and search for the clients mac address (typically in the aa-bb-cc-dd-ee-ff or aa:bb:cc:dd:ee:ff form) or for the clients hostname and or username. You will probably find authentication failed messages, but the client might try it several times, so don't stop at the first log entry.

[Rasika Nayanajith]

What is the software version your run on your 3850 ?

For longer run, I would not recommend this solution. Cisco has already killed this Converged Access technology and won't supported from IOS-XE 16.3 onward.

HTH

Rasika