NWA210AX Firmware Available and won't update

Zyxel_Richard

@jpblanch75

Please check your private message box for the further diagnostic instructions, thank you

Best Regards,
Richard

jpblanch75

I fixed it and found the issue.

My POE+ Switch was set to LLDP-MED for maximum reserved power which means the AP tells the switch how much power it needs.  Its not communicating the proper power needed and it was causing the port to shut down during firmware update.  This was also causing a bootloop after resetting the AP.  I set my switch to Manual Allocation of 30Watts and the firmware updated successfully.

You guys need to fix the LLDP-MED communication.

LLDP-MED mode: This mode is similar to the Class mode expect that each port determine the amount power it reserves by exchanging PoE information using the LLDP protocol and reserves power accordingly. If no LLDP information is available for a port, the port will reserve power using the class mode

In this mode the Maximum Power fields have no effect

For all modes: If a port uses more power than the reserved power for the port, the port is shut down.

Zyxel_Richard

@jpblanch75

May I know which Switch you're using?

Our AP can't send the LLDP during the firmware upgrade time, and we do have found some IoP issue caused by this case, where switch doesn't receive the LLDP from PDs during the firmware upgrade period and shut down the power. The solution is just like you've said > disable the switch setting or configure a fixed value on the port.

Could you please also provide us the switch model name, and screenshot the related PoE configuration page of your switch, so that we can further check the issue?

Best Regards,
Richard

jpblanch75

It also wouldn't finish booting after a full reset.  Right after the LED turned blue the AP would shut down and reboot.  If I remember correctly when in LLDP was configured, my switch port was set to 25watt instead of 30 watt.

It is a Luxul 2624p, port 23 and 24 are my 2 APs.

Zyxel_Richard

@jpblanch75

Based on the product spec, the NWA210AX draws up to 19W at most. The reason why you see the 25W in the LLDP packet is our design to get extra quota to cover the cable loss.



While our AP indeed support LLDP-MED Behavior, with the legitimate value inside the payload, we think there should be no problem from our AP's side. The unstable problem could be caused by the cable loss, or the way switch process the LLDP packet.

We'd regard this case as an interoperability issue between our AP and your switch. As a workaround, kindly use the fixed allocation power on the port to avoid the port shut down.

Best Regards,
Richard

jpblanch75

Zyxel_Richard said:

@jpblanch75

Based on the product spec, the NWA210AX draws up to 19W at most. The reason why you see the 25W in the LLDP packet is our design to get extra quota to cover the cable loss.



While our AP indeed support LLDP-MED Behavior, with the legitimate value inside the payload, we think there should be no problem from our AP's side. The unstable problem could be caused by the cable loss, or the way switch process the LLDP packet.

We'd regard this case as an interoperability issue between our AP and your switch. As a workaround, kindly use the fixed allocation power on the port to avoid the port shut down.

Best Regards,
Richard

You already told me that your AP doesn't broadcast LLDP during the firmware update..... I'm sure there are also other LLDP issues and I personally don't believe the problem is the switch.  How quick your are to write off that it isn't an AP issue.

Zyxel_Richard

Hi @jpblanch75

Sorry for causing your misunderstanding, let me further explain my previous reply:

1. During the firmware upgrade period, there must be a period for device to write memory and can't work appropriately (just like the Windows Laptop update), so during the period the AP won't send the LLDP packet (even it's get the power from the Switch).

2. For the firmware upgrade case, we've tested by connecting our AP with some other brand switches( Zyxel, CISCO, D-LINK....) with their LLDP-MED mode, where no such reboot issue found.

3. There's also a mechanism implemented on AP, where AP will change it's TTL to 600 sec before firmware upgrade, so the during the upgrade period the AP won't be regarded as out-of-order and shut down by PoE switch.



4. Based on the information you've provided, your switch only check the "the reserved power" value, and the AP has a correct value in the payload. Besides, we've also changed the TTL column before upgrade in order to avoid the PoE shut down. So that's the reason why I said this case is an "interoperability" issue, with the workaround to set the fixed power on the Switch port.

To further investigate in this case, please collect the LLDP packet from AP, and see if the related payloads works properly. (you can attach the captured file in the reply, so that we can also check the AP's behavior from our side.)

Best Regards,
Richard