NWA1123-AC HD going offline in Nebula and unreachable on the LAN

Molotov

Hi,

after having run 4 years connected to Nebula without any issues in one of our shops 2 NWA1123-AC HD access points suddenly stopped working last week. LED's are flashing green and amber and the access points cannot be found on the LAN (no response on the IP addresses that they were using).

I went onsite yesterday and did a factory reset on one of the access points, this did not only bring this access point back online in Nebula and offering WLAn again after a few minutes but also made the second access points coming online again without touching it.

About 3 hours later I got a message of one of the people working in that shop that wifi had gone down again. When I look in Nebula I see that they both are down again indeed and as before they are not discoverable on the LAN.

Nebula logs don't show anything useful, they mention devices being connected and roaming but suddenly everything stops.

There were no changes in the firewall config or ISP modem settings. The other devices on the LAN are working fine as usual (multiple POS machines, payment systems, printers, …).

Why would these be going down like this and becoming totally unreachable so at this time impossible to further investigate for us?

We have lots of these Zyxel APs at different sites and have never experienced any behaviour like this.

Rgds,

M

Molotov

Someone onsite did a factory reset again on one of the APs, within minutes they appeared as online again in Nebula and were reachable on the LAN.

As I now found multiple of these in the logs 'Netconf is unable to connect NCC. Relevant to DNS queries failed. Gateway is unavailable' I changed the IP addresses of the Aps (they were on DHCP before) and set the DNS to 8.8.8.8.

let's hope they stay in the air again for long …

Zyxel_Judy

Hi @Molotov ,

To better understand the significance of the green and amber blinking lights on your NWA1123-AC HD, please refer to our detailed FAQ section.

https://community.zyxel.com/en/discussion/19500/understanding-the-ap-led-that-alternates-between-amber-and-green-blinks

If the issue recurs after setting the DNS to 8.8.8.8 and you require additional assistance in diagnosing or resolving the issue, we encourage you to enable Zyxel support. Additionally, please provide us with the name of your Nebula organization/site here or via the private message by clinking to my account > Message.

Molotov

Hello Judy,

the access points have been working fine until today, around 11:41 CET+1 they suddenly were offline again. Do you have an additional advice?

Rgds,

Kristof

Zyxel_Judy

Hi @Molotov ,

Your NWA1123 AC-HD APs are currently operating on firmware version V6.25(ABIN.6). We recommend upgrading to the latest firmware version, 6.25(ABIN.9)C0, that offers significant enhancements and bug fixes. You can refer to this FAQ to upgrade the firmware at local site. Or you also can do a factory reset to let the AP online and then go to Nebula > Configure > Firmware management > Device tab > Choose APs > Click Upgrade now

Additionally, it's advisable to inspect your uplink network device (such as the router, modem, or firewall) to ensure it isn't blocking NETCONF traffic. There could also be issues related to the uplink session itself that are worth investigating.

Molotov

Hello Judy,

Unfortunately resetting them doesn't bring them back online again, although this worked twice before. On Thursday I'll go onsite and have a look myself. Will keep you updated.

Rgds,

Kristof

Zyxel_Judy

Hi @Molotov ,

Hello,

Regarding your question related to router/ modem enabling/ disable Netconf in the message, enabling Netconf is crucial for your device to connect to the Nebula Control Center, appear online and apply the new configurations from the Nebula, etc. However, enabling or disable Netconf doesn't impact the wireless network services that APs are providing with the existed configuration.

If NetConf is blocked by your firewall or cable modem, you can still access your device locally using its LAN IP address (login the AP local web GUI). To do this, ensure that your laptop and the AP are on the same network subnet.

Once logged into the local Web GUI, you can check the Cloud Control Status. This will help you identify why the AP is offline on Nebula. For detailed guidance, please refer to this FAQ: How to check the Cloud Control Status when AP is offline on Nebula? — Zyxel Community

Additionally, you have the option to download the diagnostic files from the AP and share them with us. We can then assist you further in investigating the issue.

Waiting for your update.

Molotov

Hello Judy,

The devices cannot be found locally in the LAN, not on the IP addresses as configured in Nebula and not on any other address.

Rgds