Poor WLAN Performance when roaming

[dr_kellogg]

Hello having some real issues with WLAN roaming and device authentication.

Sorry, I didn't include details.

9 access points all MR55s

I've had Meraki support double check all configuration and haven't found any issues. I've tested this even happens when you're sitting still. Not roaming. Singal is above -55db at all times.

[NolanHerring]

Sorry, I'm not entirely sure what exactly your issue is. Are you saying that the device is roaming when sitting still? 

[dr_kellogg]

@NolanHerring User can be standing still, AP kicks the user off and will not allow them to reconnect for up to 5 minutes. User has line of site with the AP they are connected too

[Tadpole86]

I would split these two complaints into separate cases, a roaming issue will send you down a totally different troubleshooting track compared to a user who gets kicked off the wifi and cant connect for 5 minutes. 

For something like this, I would be continuing to work directly with the support team to narrow down the issue. Is this just one user for example? What do you see if you get the end-user to take a packet capture on their laptop when they cannot connect. Support will be able to help you understand the captures

[dr_kellogg]

@Tadpole86 

So support asked for a pcap from the Meraki dashboard however that is one of the most frustrating tools ever built. I've missed the event a few times because the tool just stopped capturing. So I will be going onsite tomorrow to perform a wireshark packet capture.

This is for all clients that are on the system not just one individual person. I will focus on individual problems and not try to loop these into one cluster of an issue thanks for that tip!

[Skinner]

I missed this one as it mentions roaming but the actual problem description is very similar to what we are experiencing at High School.

Observed behavior:

Chromebook disconnects and reconnects to same AP every few seconds.

Sometimes connects to adjacent AP with half the SNR.

Info about devices:

Chromebook G4 running CRos 85. Same issue observed with CRos 84.

Wifi adapter is 7260AC

AP info:

MR46

1 AP per classroom.

each AP set to auto channel and power.

Power setting 2-6

5GHz only SSID

Firmware 27.4 and 27.5

Will downgrade entire network tonight to 26.8.1 to see if that makes a difference.

[cmr]

Im pretty sure the problem you have is related to a power saving issue with Intel WiFi5 chipsets.  Plug the power adapter into one of the Chromebooks and you should see it work perfectly.

I had the same issue with Windows 10 laptops with Intel WiFi5 chipsets and using the power adapter or setting the WiFi card to maximum performance in power settings fixed it.

It is a Meraki 27.x bug so the downgrade should fix it but I didn't have time to collect the wireless logs support wanted so closed the ticket.  It was 100% repeatable for me with ~4 different laptops and an MR55 so I'm sure the Meraki labs can fix it.

[Skinner]

Thanks for the info. 

Meraki support did not mention any of that and I have had the case open since Friday.

Plan is to have APs running 26.8.1 by Monday morning. Hopefully that corrects the problem so I do not have to deal with 1000+ non working devices.

[cmr]

@Skinner no worries, watch out for Samsung Android issues with 26.8.1, not nearly as bad but after a few hours they seem to get kicked out and cannot reconnect for ~5 minutes, hence I changed the power setting or upgraded the laptops (4<1000) to different chipsets...

[Skinner]

@cmr phones fall under BYOD and are last on my list of priorities.

What I find interesting is that our smaller sites are not having this issue. Those same Chromebooks have been working fine at 3 elementary schools. Same deployment of 1 AP per classroom, although, only 35 APs per building vs 170 at High School.

[cmr]

And all unplugged from power, or do the elementary schools keep them more charged up???  I only know from a Windows 10 side that when any power saving was enabled on the wireless adapter, I saw the issues you are describing.  The standard Windows power plan enables the initial power saving state as soon as you unplug the power but the Chrome OS might behave differently 

[Skinner]

All unplugged even at elementary level. Difference is that elementary kids spend less time using a device.

[PhilipDAth]

Before doing anything on the Meraki side; are the WiFi drivers the latest available for the devices being used?

[cmr]

With MR55 look at power saving.  I found the following issues:

26.8 firmware, Android devices deauthenticated and had to try several times to reauth, regular issue

27 firmware, laptops with WiFi5 NICs, packet loss when not plugged in to mains power.

I run 27 firmware now and changed WiFi power setting to maximum performance in Windows 10 for some laptops and replaced the 8260 NIC in another with an AX200. AX201 also works perfectly, so do non Intel WiFi 5 NICs

[dr_kellogg]

@PhilipDAth yes drivers have been updated on all devices, one of my first steps. 🙂

[NolanHerring]

What firmware version are your MR55 running?

[dr_kellogg]

Hi Nolan,

The AP's are all running 27.4 FW. 

[cmr]

@dr_kellogg what type of devices are being kicked off, I have an MR55 and MR56 at home running 27.4 and the only issue I have seen is Intel WiFi5 chipsets being kicked off when on battery mode with default power saving enabled.

[cmr]

Having said that I just rechecked the event logs and on the MR56 they are overflowing with association errors on clients that are staying connected and working just fine.  The only one that doesn't show any errors is a Samsung S9+....

So I think I am experiencing the "association errors are actually errors and not accurate reports" but if you are genuinely having issues that doesn't help much. ☹️