NWA50AX throws all clients of suddenly

ReneDyhr

I have 4 NWA50AX around in an open office and normally it works flawlessly.

But at random times when a handful of people sit together near the same AP, it throws ALL clients on the AP off.

I can't see anything in the log file, that should be the reason for this.

What can I do, to make it actually stable in a working environment with no more than 30 devices in total.

I only have NWA50AX as AP's and a router from the ISP with disabled antennas. I can't see how the router should be the problem, since all other AP's working fine.

Zyxel_Nami

Hi @ReneDyhr

It sounds like your NWA50AX may be experiencing overloading issues when multiple clients connect to it simultaneously, causing it to disconnect all clients. To help us investigate further, please enable Zyxel Technical Support on Nebula and provide us with your Organization/Site information.  

In the meantime, we suggest checking the following settings that may help resolve the issue: 

1. Utilize Load Balancing function to control the number of devices connected.
   • Choose “Enable by client device number mode".
   • Input 2.4G/5G Maximum client devices number. For a more stable and efficient WiFi connection, we recommend limiting the number of connected wireless clients to 15-20 per AP at the same time. 
   • Toggle “Disassociate client device when overloaded”. When the station number is greater than the max station number, AP disassociates clients with the longest idle time and the poorest signal strength. 
     *Nebula path: Configure > Access points > AP & port settings > Load balancing
     
2. Using DCS function allows AP to find a less-used channel that helps to improve the stability and performance of your WiFi connection.  
   • DCS schedule: Enable it and schedule the time for the AP to automatically scan and find a less-used channel. We suggest scheduling the DCS operation during off-peak hours or when there are fewer clients connected to the AP. 
   • DCS client aware: When it is enabled, AP will wait until all connected clients have disconnected before switching channels.  
   • Avoid 5G DFS channel: Disable it to let the AP have more options. 
     *Nebula path: Configure > Access points > Radio settings > DCS setting 

Best Regards,

Nami

ReneDyhr

I will take a look at the settings you provided, thanks!
Have enabled the support request thing, but do I need to get you any information to get in further?

The thing I find weird, is that the AP's that's overloaded shouldn't be anywhere near an overload state. We have before had it restart with just 5 clients connected.

When I look at the AP's and the clients connected to each, I can see that many of our clients are connected to one AP, even though some of them are very much closer to another AP

Zyxel_Nami

Hello @ReneDyhr

We got your Organization/Site already. You can configure Load Balancing that we mentioned in the previous message and keep observing the behavior of APs and stations. 

However, we would like to ask which AP that you mentioned as '...the AP's that's overloaded shouldn't be anywhere near an overload state. We have before had it restart with just 5 clients connected...'? 

We have just conducted an initial check and found that the current Disassociate Station Threshold for 2.4GHz is set at -88 dBm. This means that the station will be disconnected from the AP once the signal strength reaches -88 dBm, which is a rather far distance resulting in poor connection quality. For optimal performance in case there are multiples APs in your environment, we recommend setting the signal threshold to at least -70 dBm. 

Also, we suggest that the overlapped coverage areas of two APs should not be too wide, as it can lead to situations where the station doesn't know which signal is better to connect with. Therefore, please try to deploy your APs a bit further apart from each other.

The deployment and Disassociate Station Threshold setting could be reasons why many stations still connect to one specific AP even though they are close to another one.

Best Regards,

Nami