Controllerless Networks

Hello,

we've just deployed 10 IAP (215 and 205) Accesspoints running the latest GA Firmware in our office and the clients doesnt roam properly. If i reconnect with my laptop, it doesnt connects me to the best one.

Thanks in advance

Simon

wlan ssid-profile ************
 enable
 index 0
 type employee
 essid  ************
 opmode wpa2-aes
 max-authentication-failures 0
 vlan 50
 auth-server  ************
 rf-band all
 captive-portal disable
 dtim-period 1
 inactivity-timeout 1000
 broadcast-filter all
 g-min-tx-rate 11
 a-min-tx-rate 12
 dmo-channel-utilization-threshold 90
 local-probe-req-thresh 0
 max-clients-threshold 64
 okc
 dot11k
 dot11v

arm
 wide-bands 5ghz
 80mhz-support
 min-tx-power 12
 max-tx-power 18
 band-steering-mode force-5ghz
 air-time-fairness-mode default-access
 client-aware
 scanning
 client-match
 client-match nb-matching 90
 client-match calc-threshold 2
 client-match calc-interval 10
 client-match slb-mode 2
 client-match debug 0
 client-match holdtime 1

arubawifi01# show version       
Aruba Operating System Software.
ArubaOS (MODEL: 215), Version 6.4.2.6-4.1.1.11
Website: http://www.arubanetworks.com
Copyright (c) 2002-2015, Aruba Networks, Inc.
Compiled on 2015-11-22 at 16:41:06 PST (build 52666) by p4build

Client Match Action Table
-------------------------
Station            Old State  New State  Reason             Radio  Time
-------            ---------  ---------  ------             -----  ----

88:63:df:  Normal     Normal     Client left        1      11:53:17
c8:1e:e7:  Normal     Normal     Client associated  1      11:53:30
c8:1e:e7:  Normal     Normal     Client left        1      11:53:37
8c:3a:e3: Normal     Normal     Client associated  0      11:54:54
88:c9:d0:  Normal     Normal     Client left        1      11:56:00

Virtual Beacon Table
--------------------
Station            CM State  Triggered  Succeeded  Owner  AP                           RSSI  Received
-------            --------  ---------  ---------  -----  --                           ----  --------
84:8e:df:ff  Normal    0          0          No     40:e3:d6 (Local 0)  7     15s
                   Normal                          No     40:e3:d6:41:e0:40 (Local 1)  8     16s
                                                   No     40:e3:d6:            16    10s
                                                   No     40:e3:d6:            13    2s
                                                   No     04:bd:88:            40    6s
                                                   No     40:e3:d6:           25    2s
                                                   No     04:bd:88          32    6s
                                                   No     40:e3:d6:            30    2s
                                                   No     40:e3:d6:            26    7s
                                                   Yes    40:e3:d6:            20    2s

Client Match Neighbor Table
---------------------------
MAC                Channel  RSSI  Clients  Threshold  Channel Util (%)  VC Key    Flags  Received
---                -------  ----  -------  ---------  ----------------  ------    -----  --------
40:e3:d6:  100E     -     6        5          1                 -         -      -
40:e3:d6:  6        -     13       255        18                -         -      -
40:e3:d6:  36E      0     3        255        2                 fe9c75c3  VRIC   0s
40:e3:d6: 1        0     1        255        53                fe9c75c3  VIC    1s
40:e3:d6: 6        0     5        255        31                fe9c75c3  VICS   1s
40:e3:d6:  36E      0     2        5          2                 fe9c75c3  VIC    0s
04:bd:88:  116E     0     5        4          1                 fe9c75c3  VICB   0s
04:bd:88:  11       0     4        255        16                fe9c75c3  VIC    1s
40:e3:d6:  1        0     4        255        47                fe9c75c3  VIC    1s
40:e3:d6:  116E     0     3        4          1                 fe9c75c3  VIC    0s
40:e3:d6:  52E      0     4        4          0                 fe9c75c3  VICB   0s
40:e3:d6:  1        0     2        255        24                fe9c75c3  VIC    0s
40:e3:d6:  1        0     9        255        17                fe9c75c3  VIC    1s
40:e3:d6:0  36E      0     5        5          1                 fe9c75c3  VICB   0s
Neighbor Flags:      V - Valid;       R - In RF Neighborhood;      S - Same Channel;
                     B - Balancing;   C - Client Match Enabled;    I - In Same Swarm
Total 14 Neighbors

- What is your regulatory domain?

- Please uncheck Client Match--- in Version 4.2.x.x it is hardened, but it is not as effective in 4.1.1.11

- What are the clients with the problems?

- How far apart are your access points and how are the mounted? (on the ceiling or on the wall)

Thanks for your really fast answer!

Reg Domain is RW.

It doesnt matter what clients are used. Following are we using Android, iPhone, Linux iwlwifi, Mac OS

APs are mounted at the ceiling

First will upgrade to Release 6.4.4.3-4.2.2.0 and check if problems are still happening. Are there other things to improve or take a look of? Can i supply you with more infos?

- The regulatory domain matters (there is no RW regulatory domain), because you are using DFS channels.  Not all clients can "see" DFS channels, so that would contribute to poor roaming.  You should only use channels 36 40 44 48 149 153 157 161 165 (EDIT: and 1 6 11) to ensure that is not what is happening.

- You are using 80mhz channels, which many clients do not support as of yet, so combined with using DFS channels, your clients might not be seeing all of the access points they can see.  In the ARM profile, I would uncheck 80mhz channels and set "Wide Channels" to "None"

- How far apart are your access points?

- Upgrading to 4.2.x.x will not change things much.  If you have the problems above, client match will not help clients connect to channels they do not support.

How to find out regularity Domain? Is this what your're asking for? I'm in Germany.

virtual-controller-country DE 

 Is my channel set okay, according to my reg. domain?

Wide channels disabled for now. 80mhz also.

Access Points are 20-30meters apart and every serves up to 25 Users

You should only enable channels 1 6 11 36 40 44 48 149 153 157 161 165 for now.

Distance seems fine.  Is this an office environment, or an open space?

Following channels doesnt show up in list: 149 153 157 161 165

Now i've enabled following channels:

1 6 11 36 40 44 48

Is that correct?

It's an open space, seperated through fire protection doors and walls. I've attached a plan. arubawifi04 is an 205. Blue doors are fire protection doors. All other walls are "plasterboard". The APs are at the ceiling, which has a ~2,7m height.

Can you see more than one AP in each room?

Yes! Depending on the position i can see ~2-5 APs with my Laptop.

At what signal strength?  What application are you using?  Please post a sample screenshot.

I'm using iw.

I just walked around and did a scan underneath the AP and in the middlebetween two.

Starting from arubawifi01 to arubawifi06. - arubawifi08 isnt deployed yet. Therefore it doestn show up

sudo iw wlp3s0 scan | grep -v Guest | grep eDarling -B09 | grep -E 'SSID|signal|BSS|freq: 5'

under arubawifi01:

BSS 40:e3:d6:41:df:10 (arubawifi02)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5240
	signal: -79.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:41:e0:50 (arubawifi01)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5200
	signal: -45.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling

between arubawifi01/02:

BSS 40:e3:d6:41:df:10 (arubawifi02)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5240
	signal: -52.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:41:e0:50 (arubawifi01)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5200
	signal: -58.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:41:e0:40(on wlp3s0)
	signal: -56.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling

under arubawifi02:

BSS 40:e3:d6:41:df:10 (arubawifi02)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5240
	signal: -51.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:41:e0:50 (arubawifi01)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5200
	signal: -81.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 04:bd:88:5f:f2:10 (arubawifi03)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5180
	signal: -81.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling

between arubawifi02/3

BSS 40:e3:d6:41:df:10 (arubawifi02)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5240
	signal: -56.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:41:e0:50 (arubawifi01)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5200
	signal: -81.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 04:bd:88:5f:f2:10 (arubawifi03)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5180
	signal: -73.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:41:de:30 (arubawifi05)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5220
	signal: -90.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling 

under arubawifi03

BSS 40:e3:d6:41:df:10 (arubawifi02)(on wlp3s0)
    freq: 5240
    signal: -79.00 dBm
    SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:41:e0:50 (arubawifi01)(on wlp3s0)
    freq: 5200
    signal: -81.00 dBm
    SSID: eDarling
BSS 04:bd:88:5f:f2:10 (arubawifi03)(on wlp3s0)
    freq: 5180
    signal: -45.00 dBm
    SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:41:de:30 (arubawifi05)(on wlp3s0)
    freq: 5220
    signal: -90.00 dBm
    SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:3e:ee:d0 (arubawifi04) (arubawifi04)(on wlp3s0)
    freq: 5180
    signal: -67.00 dBm
    SSID: eDarling

between arubawifi03/04:

BSS 40:e3:d6:41:df:10 (arubawifi02)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5240
	signal: -78.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 04:bd:88:5f:f2:10 (arubawifi03)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5180
	signal: -54.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:41:de:30 (arubawifi05)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5220
	signal: -82.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:3e:ee:d0 (arubawifi04) (arubawifi04)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5180
	signal: -61.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling

under arubawifi04:

BSS 40:e3:d6:41:df:10 (arubawifi02)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5240
	signal: -78.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 04:bd:88:5f:f2:10 (arubawifi03)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5180
	signal: -67.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:41:de:30 (arubawifi05)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5220
	signal: -73.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:3e:ee:d0 (arubawifi04) (arubawifi04)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5180
	signal: -39.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:3c:01:d0 (arubawifi06)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5220
	signal: -80.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling

between arubawifi04/5

BSS 40:e3:d6:41:df:10 (arubawifi02)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5240
	signal: -86.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 04:bd:88:5f:f2:10 (arubawifi03)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5180
	signal: -81.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:41:de:30 (arubawifi05)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5220
	signal: -48.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:3e:ee:d0 (arubawifi04) (arubawifi04)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5180
	signal: -54.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:3c:01:d0 (arubawifi06)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5220
	signal: -72.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:41:e0:90 (arubawifi07)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5200
	signal: -91.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling

under arubawifi05:

BSS 04:bd:88:5f:f2:10 (arubawifi03)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5180
	signal: -90.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:41:de:30 (arubawifi05)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5220
	signal: -39.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:3e:ee:d0 (arubawifi04) (arubawifi04)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5180
	signal: -80.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:3c:01:d0 (arubawifi06)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5220
	signal: -59.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:41:e0:90 (arubawifi07)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5200
	signal: -83.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling

between arubawifi05/06:

BSS 04:bd:88:5f:f2:10 (arubawifi03)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5180
	signal: -90.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:41:de:30 (arubawifi05)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5220
	signal: -59.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:3e:ee:d0 (arubawifi04) (arubawifi04)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5180
	signal: -80.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:3c:01:d0 (arubawifi06)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5220
	signal: -53.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:41:e0:90 (arubawifi07)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5200
	signal: -69.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling

under arubawifi06:

BSS 04:bd:88:5f:f2:10 (arubawifi03)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5180
	signal: -90.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:41:de:30 (arubawifi05)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5220
	signal: -71.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:3e:ee:d0 (arubawifi04) (arubawifi04)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5180
	signal: -80.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:3c:01:d0 (arubawifi06)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5220
	signal: -37.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling
BSS 40:e3:d6:41:e0:90 (arubawifi07)(on wlp3s0)
	freq: 5200
	signal: -69.00 dBm
	SSID: eDarling

Okay.  It seems that under APs, you really cannot see more than one access point in most circumstances; so you don't have alot of density.  Most Clients will look to roam when the AP they are connecting to drops to -75.

When did you make the change below?

g-min-tx-rate 11
 a-min-tx-rate 12

 You might want to change those back to the defaults, if things don't improve.  You would typically increase those values greater than the defaults when you have enough density, and it seems like there is not alot of density; just coverage.

I did this change some days ago to force roaming faster, but this didnt realy helped.

With the new firmware version and settings client match and roaming at all seems to work better. I now can see that the APs try to match the clients. But very often CM is failing because all other APs are denying in some cases, even they report a much better rssi.

Are there things to fine tune there?

You can put the rates back to their defaults:

g-min-tx-rate 11
 a-min-tx-rate 12

If clientmatch tries to steer a client and it cannot connect because the minimum rates are too high, that could be the reason for the failures.

I've set them back to defaults.

Thank you very much for your help! It seems the Problem is fixed. I'll verify this and then may mark this topic as fixed.

---

@simonpolack wrote:

Following channels doesnt show up in list: 149 153 157 161 165

 

 

Now i've enabled following channels:

1 6 11 36 40 44 48

Is that correct?

 

It's an open space, seperated through fire protection doors and walls. I've attached a plan. arubawifi04 is an 205. Blue doors are fire protection doors. All other walls are "plasterboard". The APs are at the ceiling, which has a ~2,7m height.

---

Your channels are correct for DE, yes.