ZyXEL NWA50AX fault

Serb_LEConcepts

We have a ZyXEL NWA50AX WAP that is offline and has a constant flashing red light which is temporarily fixed if it is disconnected from the ZyXEL PoE switch but returns to a fault after a few minutes and wonder if you can assist please?

Thank you in advance.

PeterUK

The problem could also be a power delivery from the switch are you able to test another switch or injector? or even another port? or do you have other devices that need PoE and are working fine?

Serb_LEConcepts

Many thanks for your reply.

Does the flashing red LED refer to a look up fault ? The 5 port PoE ZyXEL switch powers 3 other NWA50AX switches without fault and I find that if I power cycle the PoE switch the fault does not appear for more than a day. The cabling, CAT6 pure copper, is identical to all 4 units and the NWA50AX that exhibits the fault is the closet to the switch. I will visit the site over the next couple of days and swap the PoE switch and see if this resolves the problem.

Thank you in advance

PeterUK

Hmm you say you got 4 NWA50AX on a 5 port PoE ZyXEL switch? Are you sure your not overloading its? From what I can tell a 5 port PoE switch has about 60W budget I'm pretty sure having 4 AP's would overload it.

Zyxel_Tina

Hi @Serb_LEConcepts,

As mentioned by PeterUK, this may be related to a PoE power budget limitation. If the PoE switch you are using is a small 5-port model such as the Zyxel GS1005HP or Zyxel GS1200-5HP v2, the total PoE budget is 60W.

Since a Zyxel NWA50AX can require up to 16W, connecting four APs (16W × 4) may exceed the switch’s PoE budget. In this situation, one of the APs may not receive sufficient power and may fail to start properly, which could explain the flashing red LED behavior.

If you would like us to further investigate this with you, please share the exact model of the PoE switch you are using.

Serb_LEConcepts

Many thanks for your reply.

16W x4 = 64W, that is 6.7% greater than the specified power output of the PoE switch, 60W, assuming that all the WAPs are being fully utilised. From my engineering background all systems are designed to have a over tolerance of 15% so I would expect that the PoE switch should be able to handle a 7% overloading.

I will put a multimeter on the PoE switch when I visit to gauge the power demaned at that site.

Thanks in advance

Zyxel_Tina

Hi @Serb_LEConcepts,

Since the red LED can indicate three different issues, could you please confirm which one matches your situation?

To help us troubleshoot further, could you also confirm:

• The exact model of your PoE switch
• Whether the switch port LED is lit (if it is off, and your switch has a web GUI, please check the port status there)

This will help us pinpoint the cause more effectively.

Thank you for your cooperation!

Serb_LEConcepts

Evening ZyXEL_Tina,

The NWA50AX led showed a solid red - which according to your table indicates an issue with booting up. I did a hard reset using the rear button and this seems to have cured the issue as there has not been a problem for a few days.

A big thank you for your help.