Two NWA50AX in Smart Mesh frequently dropping connection

agrsdl

Hi there, I recently (3 days ago? )setup two NWA50AX in smart mesh, only one is connected to the lan, while the other uses the mesh to extend my wifi.

Sadly I'm seeing a frequent disconnections from the second NWA50AX (wifi-only), going offline from time to time.

Is there something that might affect it? Connection quality should be good within the two APs and channel utilizations is under 25%.

I've also added Zyxel support as admin if you want to take a look, thanks!

Zyxel_HsinBo

Hi, @agrsdl

 

Thanks for consulting Nebula Support!

The connection may be impacted by many reasons,

Such as obstacle material and thickness, the connection signal between Root/Repeater AP, and the channel load as you mentioned.

 

Could you kindly help to check the deployment factors above,

If the symptom still exists after you have done the check,

Please provide us with your Org/Site name,

We will check the symptom as soon as possible.

Thank you.

 

Best Regards,

 

HsinBo

agrsdl

This is the channel load for the two APs

Primary (eth)

• Link: Uplink: 1000M/Full
• Channel (Band): 11 (DCS) [2.4GHz] 36*/40/44/48 (DCS) [5GHz]
• Channel utilization: 26% [2.4GHz] 1% [5GHz]

Secondary AP (Wifi only)

• Neighbor info: Main zyxel(NWA50AX)/9/Uplink
• Link: Uplink: Wireless
• Channel (Band): 11 (DCS) [2.4GHz] 64*/60/52/56 (DCS) [5GHz]
• Channel utilization: 44% [2.4GHz] 19% [5GHz]

How can I check connection signal? For now it always says "Good" if I hover onto the secondary AP.

Zyxel_HsinBo

Hi, @agrsdl

 

We have checked the AP managed on your site and observed some information that needs to sync with you.

It seems the frequent disconnect symptom only happened on June 22, 

From June 23 to June 29 repeater AP only showed offline three times in Nebula, and the root AP show offline at the same time.

(It would relate to DNS, please help us to change your DNS setting of both your AP with 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4 as your “First DNS”)

 

Thus, could you kindly help us to tell us if the frequent disconnect symptom still exists in your scenario?

 

The 5Ghz signal is too weak to form the mesh connection between the root AP and repeater AP(RSSI: -8x), thus using 2.4Ghz to form the mesh connection.

But the connection signal is still not good. (RSSI About -73, please refer to the image)

2.4GHz

5GHz

 

And the DCS Clients aware option is turned on in your DCS settings,

We would suggest you turn it off since there are logs showing that the result of DCS find a better channel but it didn’t change the channel since there are clients connected.

In summary, your two AP use 2.4G to form the mesh connection, but the connection signal is not good and channel utilization of 2.4Ghz sometimes even increases to 80% - 90%, which must impact the usage

.

Thus, please help us to change the suggest setting above,

After you have done the settings, observe whether the connection gets better or not for a period of time.

Hope the answer would solve your problem,

Have a nice day,

Thank you.

 

Best Regards,

HsinBo

agrsdl

Thanks! I disabled the DCS Client aware option.

As for DNS is there a setting in nebula where I can change the DNS? Otherwise I'll do it from elsewhere.

Zyxel_HsinBo

Hi, @agrsdl

 

Good day.

Please help us move to the page from the below path in Nebula to modify the AP DNS setting:

(AP would use a static IP instead get IP from the DHCP server)

 

Left sidebar “Access point” >> Access points >> Tap the AP you want to modify the setting

 

After you are on the detailed AP page, please tap the button on the right side of the LAN IP option under the Status section.

Then select the Static IP option, type in the Primary DNS with the value 8.8.8.8 

Please repeat the steps above to modify all of your AP.

 

If you want to keep the AP to get the IP address from your DHCP server, please modify the DNS setting under your local DHCP server setting, then re-wire the AP to let them get new DNS settings.

Hope the solution would help you,

If there is another assistance that we could help with, feel free to contact us.

Have a nice day,

Thank you.

 

Best Regards,

 

HsinBo

agrsdl

Hi,

seems like the connection improved a little bit lately but I "feel" some lag from time to time.

How can I check the RSSI to see if it improved or not?

Zyxel_HsinBo

Hi, @agrsdl

 

Good day.

It's glad to hear the connection improved in your environment.

Could you kindly help us to describe the lag symptom that you mentioned?

You could check the mesh connection signal strength on the Access point page.

Tap the button on the right side of the page. 

There would show up with options that you want to see on the AP status list.

Please select the “Uplink signal” option.

Thank you.

 

Best Regards,

 

HsinBo

 

agrsdl

So the bug I am noticing that usually websites and images are slow to load. Ping is fine and there are no packets lost. And this happens when I'm connected to the main AP, not the secondary one.

On another hand right now I'm having terrible speeds on the secondary one.

Uplink signal is -88 so very bad. Is there anything I can do to improve it?

Zyxel_HsinBo

Hi, @agrsdl

 

We may rule out the cause due to the AP since there are no packets lost from your observation, could you check if the Internet page you access is normal or not?

 

And as we mentioned, the uplink connection between your root AP and repeater AP is at a very weak signal, which represents the lack of signal coverage in your environment.

We may suggest you change your deployment or deploy a new AP in your scenario if you like.

 

The below link is information for you about our AP product:

 

Wireless | Zyxel

 

Thank you.

agrsdl

hi @Zyxel_HsinBo

While trying some tests to improve the connectivity I connected the repeater to a powerline to test it. Then removed the ethernet connection.

The repeater didn't went back to the mesh uplink so I tried resetting it various times and removing it from my organization and readding it but with no success.
It's slow blinking between amber and green.

I tried reconnecting first to the ethernet and then once It went green again I detatched it. It said online but didn't extend the wifi.

Then I rebooted it and now it's red again any advice on how to successfully reset?