Modero WiFi problems..
cma
Posts: 94
in AMX Hardware
I have a client who's system has been working flawlessly all except for the 3 MVP-7500's. They frequently will show a green connected status on the panels as well as show up in the online tree in NetLinx studio but they do not respond or control the system until NetLinx is rebooted. I have 3 access points on channels 1, 5 and 11 all with the same SSID and WEP settings. I recently changed the AP's out to commercial version NetGear WAP102's and the system worked great for about 2 and a half weeks and I thought everything was going to be golden then I just got a call this morning that the panels are doing the same thing again. All devices have most current firmware, Masters are set to 10 half duplex, udp is on, all devices have static IP and the panels are set to connect through URL static IP mode. Has anyone had better luck with the new G cards available? Do you think setting the AP's to bridge or repeater mode would make a difference over standard AP mode?
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Does the affected panel show good communications with the access point it's connected to?
Check which access point an affected TP is connected to (either by looking at the MAC address report on the TP or the MAC address report on the AP) and see if it's always the same AP.
Is the failure at all asscoiated with moving the TPs around? That is, is it possible that the TP is remaining associated with a more distant AP.
Do the APs provide good coverage in all areas?
If it's always the same AP, is there any interference on the channel used by that AP? Try the free utility Network Stumbler to check for other wireless networks and for signal strength. Though, NetStumbler, as far as I know, won't find a network that has SSID broadcast turned off.
Is there any other wireless gear in the area? In several installations we've done, I've observed unknown wireless devices connecting to our WAPs as soon as I turned the APs on -- before I had a chance to configure them. By setting the SSID to a new value, turning off the SSID broadcast, and by using MAC filtering you can eliminate (I think) anybody from accidentally connecting to your WAPs.
We recently set up three AMX WAP200G APs in a daisy chain repeater configuration and set all the SSIDs to the same value and set all to use the same channel. Only one AP was connected to the master -- the others communicate through the connected WAP. (I'm not sure if this is the optimal configuration, but it seems to work.) When a TP was moved from one room to another, I could see link status and signal strength getting worse (by the report in the WIFI setup screen on the TP) and then, after maybe 15 seconds of poor signal, the TP would disconnect from the far WAP and connect to the nearest. I was actually quite impressed with how well the TPs performed (these are 8400s). So, you might try to configure your APs to repeater mode and see if the problem lessens.
Also, don't neglect looking into the switch/router that you're using -- you must have one in there somewhere, right? In a discussion not too long ago somebody (I think it was Dave Hawthorne) commented about communications problems that he thought were associated with a customer's network hardware -- either switch or router/switch. I would think it unlikely for a switch to lose communications between your master and just one AP, but I suppose it's not impossible. Just for one data point, I've had troubles with Netgear wired routers but none with either DLink or Linksys wired routers and wired switches.
Is there anything else on the same netwrok with the AMX gear and WAPs? If there's nothing that you are using the AMX to communicate with via IP (except the APs) you might try to set up the AMX and WAPs on their own little network to see if that changes anything..
You might also try testing without WEP. I'm not sure how much of a hit WEP imposes, but, surely, it must affect performance some. You can still maintain some minimal level of security by turning SSID broadcast off and by using MAC filtering on the WAPs.
Finally, we've observed (and I think others have too) APs periodically losing the ability to route between WIFI and Cat5. We have one commercial installation with 3 WAPs where each of the WAPs stopped functioning once during the last year and we suspect that it might be due to voltage level fluctuations. We're considering using POE with an UPSupply, but the problem occurs so infrequently I don't know if we'll ever be able to say what the cause is. Anyway, you might look into power fluctuations as a cause, though I'm not sure how to do this.
Good luck with it.
The WiFi channels really should be set for 1, 6 and 11 to prevent interference between channels, but that will not fix your problem.
Lastly, I do not think that the new G-cards for the MVP panels have shipped yet at this time (mid May), but I too would be interested to see how well those perform.
i heard the new cards will be available from june...
Yes, what you are seeing is telling you there is only a B card in there. The 8400's can be upgraded with a G card; I can't think of a reason why it wouldn't work the same in a 7500.
You need the G card to support anything higher than WEP.
Just wanted to second this. I've seen 2.4GHz cordless phones that completely obliterate wifi connectivity while a phone call is in progress.
Wikipedia also lists car alarms with motion sensors and microwave ovens as potential sources of 2.4GHz interference.
also, iirc from the last time I had to upgrade a panel to a G card, the the old B card has a less capable antenna.